Where Are We Going Again?
by LightningClaws
Summary: Fentis Ketchum of Pallet Town is about to start her own Pokemon journey, following in the footsteps of her older brother Red. Armed with her own Pokemon friends, fighting the forces of Team Rocket and with a rival like Blue Oak, you'd better watch out. She's about to take Kanto by storm...considering she doesn't get lost. Based loosely on the games FireRed and LeafGreen.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, here we are. My first fanfic, and to tell you the truth I'm kinda freaking out. I hope it goes down well with you wonderful people out there in The Big Wide World, so please review if you like it. Even if you don't like it, you can review. I like reviews. Well, I wouldn't actually know, as I've never written a fic before, so yeah...I should stop rambling now. This is my warped sense of humour put into writing, so don't be weirded out if it's a little fruitcakey. Anyway, ON WITH LE STORY! (Btw rated T because I am extremely paranoid, and I haven't finished writing this yet so I don't know how it's going to turn out. Better safe than sorry, yeah?)**

**Disclaimer: I no own Pokemon. The world would surely go up in flames if I did.**

* * *

"Darling, it's time to get up!"

"Grrrrmmph...Huh? Wha...?" I opened my eyes and squinted in the light streaming in through the wide-open curtains. That's weird. I was sure I'd closed them last night. My mom was leaning over my bed, grinning happily.

"Today's the start of your Pokémon journey! Don't tell me you'd forgotten?"

I had. I leapt out of bed, swearing loudly before racing down the stairs and grabbing the first thing I found for breakfast. I passed my mother on the way back up, still chewing as I rushed to get changed. How in the world could I have forgotten? This was only the single-most important day of my entire life! I pulled on a pair of blue skinny jeans, a white three-quarter shirt and a pale blue short-sleeved jersey on overtop, then completed the outfit with a pair of black boots and some burgundy gloves. After checking myself in the mirror, I decided I was ready. My mother was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me, and she frowned as I approached.

"Come now, darling. You could at least make an effort to look nice. This is a big day, after all."

"Mom!" I cried in dismay, gesturing at my attire. The woman grinned.

"I'm just joking, dear. You look wonderful. Better than your brother did on the start of his journey, anyway."

We both grinned at that. My older brother Red had never really cared about his appearance, and he'd hardly made an effort to dress up to go to the Pokémon Lab. Well, at least he'd had a shirt on, which is more than he did most days. I smiled and hugged my mother, and she clamped onto me so tightly I thought she was trying to break me in half.

"Mom...can't breathe..." I choked, and she released me almost immediately.

"I'm sorry dear, but I can't believe you've grown up so much in so little time. It feels like it was yesterday when I had to change your dirty nappies and feed you from the bottle..." She smiled sadly, and I blushed in embarrassment.

"Relax mom. I'll hardly be going far. I won't leave Kanto, I promise." She smiled through her tears and hugged me again.

"You're such a good girl, you know that, don't you?" I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, you've only told me eleventy-million times. Now come on, I'm going to be late!" She pulled away from me, frowning.

"Oh, Fentis Soul Ketchum...you always were the impatient one, weren't you?" I nodded hastily.

"Come on, mom! I have to-" I was interrupted by a knock on the front door, and my mom went to answer it. She came back a few seconds later, looking incredibly puzzled and holding a small cardboard box in her hand.

"What's up, mom? What's that?"

"I have no idea. There was no-one at the door when I went to check, there was only this. It's addressed to you, dear."

She held out the package, and I frowned before accepting it. My name was indeed written on the label in a _very _familiar messy scribble, and I opened the box carefully. There was a folded piece of paper in it, and I put the box on the table while I unfolded it. _Hey there, sis! How're ya? I'm pretty good myself, thanks for asking. Haven't been doing much lately, but I'm getting in a lot of training. Well, here it is. The big day. The start of your own journey! (CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP). _I giggled. That was typical Red. He was such a clown. I read on. _Now, I know you probably want to go and get a Pokémon from Professor Oak like I did, but there's something I want to ask of you. I know it's not really proper, but I think you'll like it. You never did like the rules, eh? Oh, back on topic. I thought it'd be cool if I got to choose your first Pokémon, and that's exactly what I've done, I've chosen one I know will benefit you greatly, but you still need to accept it. I hope you do, but you don't have to. You can always give it to mom and it can help her out around the house. I'm sure she'd have it dusting tables in 20 seconds flat! The Pokémon is in the Poké Ball (obviously) inside the box. If you don't like it, that's cool. Just give it a chance, please? Oh, would you look at that. I've been reduced to begging. Oh, woe is me! Alright, I think I've prattled on long enough. Have a good journey, sis! Who knows, I might see you around? Catch ya on the flip side! –Red. _I blinked before looking in the box. There was indeed a Poké Ball inside, and I set down the letter and picked it up. My mother's eyes widened in shock, and I held my breath as I gently pressed the button in the middle of the ball. It burst open, and a Pokémon formed in the flash of white light. My eyes widened as the light faded, and I recognized it almost at once. It looked up at me, eyes wide and scared.

"...Pika?"

It was a Pikachu. I knelt down beside it and it shied away from me. I smiled, trying to be as comforting as I could.

"Hi. My name's Fentis. You know my brother, Red?" It nodded.

"He gave you to me, so I could start my journey. Do you want to be my Pokémon?" It made a confused face and shrugged its shoulders. It still looked scared, and I nodded.

"I get it, you're scared. So am I. I'm a new Trainer, so I have absolutely no experience with this sort of thing. Do you have any?" It shook its head.

"See? We're both rookies. We can learn together as we go. I won't ask anything of you that I wouldn't do myself, okay? And can I expect the same from you?" It stared up at me with big wide eyes, and then it nodded.

"Pika pika!" I blinked.

"I'll take that as a yes. Yay!" I scooped up the Pikachu in my arms and hugged it, and it hugged me back happily. I had a Pokémon! I was finally a Trainer!

"Yes, mom. I understand." I said, staring at something in the distance. I was standing at the entrance to Route 1, and my mother was lecturing me about various hygienic things I already knew, as she'd told me about 7 times this morning. It was like listening to a broken record. What made me nervous was Professor Oak beside her, staring at me intently. He'd given me a PokéDex when he'd stopped by to see why I hadn't showed up, and his face had positively glowed when he saw me and Pikachu. My mother had explained everything to him already, and I was raring to go. Pikachu sat on my shoulder, looking out at the Route that would be my first step onto the path of a Pokémon Trainer. We were both nervous, but as I'd said earlier we would learn from each other and boost our confidence until we were the best in the world! In my dreams, anyway.

"Fentis, are you even listening to me?" I jumped.

"Uh, of course. Don't worry mom, I'll be fine." She sighed.

"I know, but I can't help it. You're my baby girl, and I couldn't bear it if something happened to you. Oh, just the thought of it is making me regret this..." I laid a hand on her shoulder, smiling reassuringly.

"Mom, listen to me. Relax. Don't worry about me, I can handle myself. Besides, I won't be alone. I'll have Pikachu with me, right buddy?"

"Pikachu! Pika pika!" He chimed in. My mother smiled and took a deep breath.

"You're right, darling. But no matter how strong you get, you'll always be my little baby, understood?" I nodded.

"Yes, I know. Can I go now?"

"That depends. Have you got everything? Clean clothes? Underwear? Toothbrush?" I groaned and opened my mouth to complain, but Professor Oak beat me to it.

"Delia, I think it's time she left. This may be hard for you, but this is the second time you've had to do this. I thought you would've been used to it by now." She nodded.

"Oh, of course. I apologise, Fentis, but I can't help being a mother. It's what I am. Now, you go out and have fun, darling! Be sure to call if anything comes up!"

"I will! Bye!" I shouted, waving back to them as I walked away down Route 1. Soon they were out of sight, and I suddenly felt very small. I stood in place and looked around, not sure of where to go now.

"Pika..."

Pikachu nuzzled my cheek with his nose, and I reached up and petted him. I'd only met him this morning, but I already felt like I'd known him forever. It was like he belonged on my shoulder. I kept stroking him as we walked, and we didn't meet anyone until we reached Viridian City. It was bigger than I'd expected, and I could see the Gym looming over the small houses. I exchanged a glance with Pikachu before heading towards it, and I almost jumped out of my skin when someone ran towards me.

"Hey, you! Girl with the Pikachu!" I stopped and allowed him to catch up to me. He skidded to a halt right before we collided, hands on his knees and panting. He wasn't the youngest man around, or the most fit.

"Something up?" I asked, trying my best to be polite.

"Were you heading to the Gym?"

"Uh...yeah. Why, is something wrong?" He shook his head, and then frowned.

"No...yes...I don't know, but something's weird. The Gym's been locked for ages now, and there's been no sign of the Leader. No-one's been able to get in." I frowned.

"So there's no Leader?"

"Not at the moment. Sorry." I shrugged.

"Meh, that's probably a good thing. We only just started our journey this morning, so I don't really think we're ready for a Gym yet." He nodded.

"Well, if you've just started out I can recommend the Pewter City Gym. It's just on the other side of Viridian Forest. That might be a good place for you to start." I looked where he pointed, and I saw the winding path leading into the thick cluster of trees. I nodded slowly.

"It looks like a little bit of a maze."

"Oh, it is. Apparently people have gotten lost in there. It took them about a week to get back out." He must have seen the look on my face, for he slapped me on the back comfortingly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine." He said, walking away and waving over his shoulder at me. I waved back slightly awkwardly, and turned to Pikachu.

"What do you think we should do now?" He nudged me with his nose, as though saying it was my decision. I sighed.

"Very helpful." I looked around the city, scouting out something to do when I caught sight of a blue-roofed building. I walked towards it curiously, and when I entered I froze. I was washed over with the smell of new things, and my eyes scanned the shelves of Poké Balls, Potions and various other things I couldn't identify.

"Hey, you! Did you come from Pallet Town?" I jumped and looked around for who'd shouted at me. It was the man behind the counter, and when I nodded he beckoned me over.

"Professor Oak's order just came in. Could you take it to him for me?" I blinked.

"Sure...I guess." He beamed from ear to ear.

"Thank you! Here you go!" He handed me the parcel and I held it carefully. He smirked.

"Don't worry, it's not easily breakable. Just don't throw it around, okay?" I nodded and headed out of the store, and then I sighed. Looks like I'd be going home sooner than anticipated. To speed up the journey I sprinted down Route 1, Pikachu clinging to my shoulder to avoid being thrown off. He squeaked in alarm as I leapt from a ledge, landing on my feet and took off again. I raced to the lab and stopped for a moment to catch my breath, and then I walked in. This was only the second time I'd been in here, the first being when Red got his first Pokémon. That seemed like a long time ago, even though it'd only been a few months. No-one paid me any attention as I walked through the building. New Trainers were coming in here all the time, so I was nothing new. I walked up to the Professor in the back, and tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped and whirled to face me, his face breaking into a grin of relief.

"Oh, it's just you, Fentis! You almost gave me a heart attack! I didn't expect to see you back here so soon. Has something happened?" He frowned in concern and I shook my head.

"No, everything's good. Someone from the Viridian Poké Mart gave me this to give to you." I handed him the package and his face lit up.

"Ah, it's the custom Poké Ball I ordered! Thank you for doing that." I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud, obnoxious voice coming from the doorway.

"I'm here, Gramps! What did you need me for?"

It was Blue, the younger brother of my neighbour Daisy Oak, and the identical twin of Green. Green is Red's biggest rival on his journey. When we were little, those two fought all the time. I spent most of my time over there with Daisy, talking about stuff and comparing our brothers. She kept saying I had it lucky, having only one, and she kept trying to give me one of hers. I always said if I took Green, he and Red would end up killing each other and Blue would probably drive him mad. He was the witty one of the family, and was always making sarcastic comments about Red, who never understood them. I wouldn't have minded having him around, but he didn't seem to like me very much. Blue approached us, but froze when he saw me.

"What's she doing here?" He asked coldly. I flinched, and Pikachu whimpered.

"Relax, Blue. She was delivering a parcel for me from Viridian City. Now, as for why I called you here..." He turned around and began rummaging in the piles of stuff he had around the place. It all seemed very disorganised to me, but the scientists who worked here never had any trouble finding stuff. As he dug, I could feel Blue's eyes on me. I turned to face him.

"What?"

"Are you on your journey?"

"Yeah, I just started this morning. As you can guess, I haven't gotten very far yet." He nodded.

"Is that your Pokémon?" He pointed at Pikachu, and I nodded.

"Yep, this is Pikachu. Pikachu, this is Blue Oak. He lives next door to me and Red."

"Pika! Pikachu!" Exclaimed the mousey Pokémon, smiling at the boy. He smiled back.

"Is your journey fun? Well, what you've done of it?"

"Like I said, I haven't done much, but it's great. Travelling with Poké something I would never put a price on, but you can't just take my word from it. You might have a very different experience from me. I doubt we'll have exactly the same Pokémon and ideas about our trips, but I can guarantee you'll learn stuff you never would've learnt before. I've learnt plenty of stuff already, and I only just started!"

He stared at me for a bit, and then nodded seriously. I was surprised at his attitude, actually. He hadn't had a single go at me. Then again, now that I thought about it he was never mean to me, only Red. This realization made me zone out a little, and I was shocked back to reality by Professor Oak.

"Aha! Found it!" He shouted in triumph, coming back to us from where he'd gotten halfway across the room on his hunt. He held a Poké Ball in his hand, and Blue stared at it.

"What's that for, Gramps?" the professor grinned.

"Now that Fentis has begun her journey, you're the only kid around your age left in Pallet Town. I know you don't want that, and neither do I. So I thought, why don't you go on a journey as well?" Blue blinked.

"...What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying you can go on a Pokémon journey, starting today! If you want to, that is. What do you say?" The boy nodded slowly.

"I'd like that. A lot."

"I thought you might. Here is your first Pokémon. I hope you don't mind that I chose it for you?" He shook his head as he took the ball.

"Not at all, Gramps. You do have a little experience with things like this, so I trust your judgement."

He opened the ball, and both Pikachu and I leant forward to see what Blue's first Pokémon would be. When the light cleared, a tiny brown fox Pokémon was sitting on the floor in front of him, and it looked around with wide eyes. He stared at it, and I had to restrain myself from laughing. His face was priceless.

"Gramps...what kind of Pokémon is this?" Professor Oak grinned happily.

"That's an Eevee. It's quite a rare Pokémon, actually."

"A rare Pokémon?" He asked, staring at Eevee sceptically.

"Eevee?" It said, staring up at him. My heart just melted and I dropped to my knees beside it.

"Hi, Eevee. I'm Fentis, and this is my friend Pikachu!"

"Pika!" The mouse chimed in, smiling at Eevee. It blinked at me, and then tilted its head to one side.

"Eevee? Eevee?"

I looked up at Blue, who looked unsure of what to do. I gestured to sit and he sat on the tiled floor, staring at the small Pokémon which was supposed to be his. When he didn't do anything, I sighed.

"Come on, Blue. Talk to it." The Eevee looked up at him, and scuttled back a bit. I think his hair made it nervous. That made me smile.

"Uh...hi, Eevee. My name's Blue."

"Eevee!" It exclaimed, darting over to him and rubbing its cheek against his leg. I had to resist gushing in a rather embarrassing way. Blue just sat and stared, and I almost slapped him.

"Come on, pat it."

He stroked its back gently, and I swear it was purring. He grinned and started playing with its ears, and it jumped on him and knocked him over. I watched in amusement as it licked and tickled his face, and he laughed uncontrollably.

"Eevee! S-stop it! Please!"

It took a while to get the hyperactive fox-dog off him, but it refused to budge from his lap as it curled up, purring. Pikachu and I exchanged a glance.

"Well, that's one way to make friends with a Pokémon."

"Pika." He said, nodding. I stood up and helped Blue to his feet, and Eevee leapt onto his shoulder to avoid falling to the floor. I imagined it would be quite hard. We both turned when Professor Oak cleared his throat, and I could've seen his grin from the other side of the room.

"Now that you've finished bonding, I can give you these." He gave Blue a PokéDex, some Potions and five empty Poké Balls. He stared at me for a moment, and then gave me some too.

"You can catch other Pokémon in these when you meet them. Always make sure you've got plenty, because a Pokémon might take more than one ball to catch. Well, that's about it from me. You two should get going. And thank you again for the package, Fentis."

"No problem. See ya round!" I called, waving as I left the Lab. Blue came out after me, and when we were alone he sighed.

"Something wrong?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No, it's just that I'm not sure if I want to go on a journey just yet. I mean, I'd be leaving Daisy all alone..." He trailed off, staring down at his feet. I glanced at Pikachu, and he shot me a sad look.

"Blue, you don't have to go on a journey if you don't want to." He stared up at me, his brown eyes wide and confused.

"But I'm thirteen now, I'm supposed to. And I can't let Eevee down." The Pokémon looked up at the sound of its name, and seemed to sense that Blue was sad. He stretched out his neck and nuzzled the boy's cheek, which made him squeeze the little fox tightly. I sighed.

"Listen to me, Blue. You don't have to go on a journey as soon as you turn a certain age. Remember my brother? He waited almost a year until I could join him, and he didn't care at all. Besides, I don't think Eevee really cares whether you go on a journey or not, as long as she can be with you."

"Eevee!" The Pokémon cried. It seemed to agree with me, and Blue sighed again.

"I think I'll go home and talk to Daisy about it." He began to walk away, but then he stopped and turned back to me.

"...Can you come with me? You're good at talking, and Daisy likes you." I frowned but nodded, walking with him to his house. He opened the door and we walked inside to see his sister sitting on the couch, drinking tea and watching TV. She looked up as the door closed, and bounced from her seat.

"Fentis! I thought you left already?"

"I did, but I came back for something. I should be going again soon though." She nodded, and then turned to Blue. The first thing she noticed was the Eevee in his arms, and she screeched so loudly I thought the windows were going to shatter.

"Aww! This is your Pokémon? It's adorable! What's it called?"

"Eevee." The older woman smiled and knelt down to see eye-to-eye with Eevee, who stared back intently. She reached out and petted his head softly, and he mewed in pleasure. Daisy glanced back up at Blue.

"So, when are you going?"

"Well, that's the-hey, wait. Since when did you know I was going somewhere?" She grinned even wider.

"Well, duh! Who do you think was the one to pop the idea into Gramps' head? He certainly didn't think of it himself. He still forgets our names! So, when are you off?"

"Woah woah, slow down a little. What makes you think I'd want to go on a journey? I might want to stay here." She frowned at him and crossed her arms across her chest.

"We both know that's just ridiculous. All kids your age go on journeys. I know you want to be like your brother, so I'm giving you the chance for you to do it. Why do you keep arguing?" He stared down at his feet and didn't say anything, and Daisy nodded in understanding.

"Ah, I get it. You think I won't be able to handle myself here on my own. I'll be fine, seriously. Besides, I'll have Delia next door if I ever need company. Don't you worry about me, brother. Let me worry about you. Now go and have some fun." Blue was almost crying now, and he rushed up to Daisy and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back, and rolled her eyes over his shoulder at me. I nodded, grinning. When Blue released her she went into a closet and pulled out a backpack full of things. He stared as she handed it to him.

"How long have you had this packed?"

"A while. Now get going. Don't forget to have fun!"

"We will. I'll make sure of it." I said, leading him out the door to begin our journeys. For real this time.

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**So, what did you think? It's the first chapter, so there's lots of explaining to do and background to make up, so it's probably not the most amazing thing you've ever read. Never mind. If you like it (or not) please review. I'd love t get your feedback. If you have questions, just PM me. I get lonely :( NAHT. Thanks for reading! (The title is open to change, if anyone wants to suggest something).**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, I'm back with a new chapter. I _know_ this story is a little slow-starting, but I'm doing my best. I might put up a chapter a week, depending what I'm doing (but that comment was pointless, seeing as I never do anything :P) I am also aware that I am horrible with appropriate chapter endings, so I seem to cut them off at the most random points imaginable, and I do apologise. I don't use a chapter format when I type stories, so I need a bit of practise. Never mind about that, though. Read on, you wonderful people!**

* * *

"Are you serious?" I asked, staring at him like he was crazy. Maybe he was, with what he just suggested anything seemed possible. He nodded, all seriousness.

"Of course I am. Pokémon need to battle to grow, right? Our Pokémon are new to all of this, as are we, so we should battle to help ourselves to help them. Understand?"

I blinked. I didn't understand, but I saw where he was coming from. Our Pokémon needed battle experience to take on Gyms and other Trainers and stuff like that. I sighed, and then nodded.

"Alright, you win. We'll battle." He smiled.

"Super. Come on, Eevee!"

The Pokémon leapt from his shoulder and stood in front of him, snarling viciously. It was actually quite scary when it wanted to be. I turned to Pikachu.

"You ready?" He nodded firmly.

"Pika pika!"

"Alright then. Go, Pikachu!" Our two Pokémon faced off across the small area, glaring and snapping. They were ready, all right.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!" I commanded. His cheeks crackled with electricity.

"Pika...CHUUUU!" He cried, releasing the electricity and aiming it right at Eevee. It hit dead-on, and the Pokémon began twitching randomly. Blue gasped.

"Come on Eevee! Use Tackle!"

She shook her head and bounded across the small space between her and Pikachu, and barrelled into him head-first. My Pokémon was sent hurtling backwards, skidding about a metre before picking himself up. He looked angry.

"Thundershock again!"

Eevee was sent reeling from the shock, and it took slightly longer to pick itself up than last time. I saw my chance. So did Pikachu.

"Come on! One more! Thundershock!"

"Pika...CHUUUU!"

Eevee collapsed on the ground, its fur sparking with excess electricity. Blue looked stunned while I scooped Pikachu up in my arms.

"Are you okay? You're not too hurt?" He shook his head and smiled.

"Pika!" I laughed.

"Good!" I glanced over at Blue when I heard a yelp, and saw Blue kneeling by Eevee, shaking his hand furiously.

"What's up? Is Eevee alright?" He glanced up at me.

"I think so, but I can't pick her up because of the electricity on her fur. It just shocked me."

"Here. Let me do it." He frowned as I knelt down beside him.

"What makes you think you're going to be able to do it any better than I can?" I held up my hands and wiggled my fingers around.

"Rubber gloves. A necessary accessory when you're training an Electric type Pokémon."

I picked Eevee up gently and held her carefully. I could see the little sparks on her fur, and I frowned. Had my Pikachu really done that? Blue got to his feet and turned back to the road.

"Come on, we should get Eevee to Viridian City. We can heal her properly there."

I nodded and led the way, as I was the only one who'd been there before. It didn't take long for us to arrive in the city adn I walked straight to the Pokémon Centre, not stopping to gawk like Blue. I'd done all of that this morning. The doors automatically slid open and allowed me to pass, and I walked up to the counter and the woman smiled at me.

"Hello, my name is Nurse Joy. How may I help you?"

"Can you heal my friends' Pokémon, please?" I held up Eevee, and the pink-haired woman grinned.

"Of course. We'll get right to it. Does your Pikachu need healing as well?" I glanced at him, and he blinked at me.

"If you have the time that would be wonderful."

"Of course we have time. It doesn't take long to heal Pokémon. Chansey are the best healers in Kanto."

"Chansey?" I asked, but before Joy could reply a pair of round, pink Pokémon came through a set of double doors holding a stretcher between them, and the stopped beside me.

"Put your Pokémon on the stretcher, please. We'll have them right as rain in no time!" Joy said cheerfully, and I smiled as I lay Eevee gently on the canvas and Pikachu jumped down beside her. He glanced over his shoulder at me as they were carried away, and I smiled.

"Don't worry, Pikachu! It won't be long." They disappeared behind the doors, and I looked around for Blue. He was curled up on a red sofa with his arms around his knees, staring at the coffee table blankly. I walked over slowly, and he didn't look up as he said, "Will they be alright?"

"Yeah, Nurse Joy's got it covered. It shouldn't take too long."

"Oh, thank God." We fell silent, and I sat on the sofa beside him.

"Sorry." I muttered, and he turned to me, frowning in confusion.

"Sorry for what?"

"Hurting Eevee like that. I didn't know Pikachu could do anything like it." He shook his head.

"It's not your fault, nor is it Pikachu's. That's just the way these battles go. They're not supposed to be nice, and that's going to happen a million more times to each of us, I bet."

"Are you sure you're not mad?" He smirked at me.

"I'm a little ticked off I didn't win, of course." I laughed.

"I guess we'll have to have a rematch soon, aye?"

"Oh, it is _so _on." He held out his hand and I shook it, and we both grinned at each other like idiots. I knew I made the right decision in becoming a Pokémon Trainer.

* * *

Our Pokémon were returned to us about five minutes later, and they were both happy to see us. Eevee jumped at Blue and licked his face madly while Pikachu hopped on top of my head and made a mess of my hair. We'd parted ways after that; Blue wanted to go and scout around the neighbouring routes while I just wandered the city, seeing the sights and just relaxing. It'd been a long day, and a lot had happened.

I sat down under a tree by a pond and rummaged through my bag, looking through what my mom had put in it. There were several changes of clothes, pyjamas (winter and summer), about five pairs of socks and ten pairs of underwear. There was a toothbrush and toothpaste, a bar of soap, small bottles of shampoo and conditioner and I found a few healing items for my Pokémon. At the very bottom was my PokéDex, a Badge case I didn't even know I had (mom must've gotten it a few days ago, when I was at the Oak's house), a Trainer card with my photo on it and the empty Poké Balls. I fiddled around for a bit, and managed to figure out how to clip them on my belt like Trainers on TV do. Pikachu watched me curiously the whole time, and then he curled up and had a nap. I almost did the same, but reminded myself that if I slept now I wouldn't sleep at all tonight. That's how it worked with me. The pond was pretty, and I rolled up my jeans and dipped my toes in. I leant back and stared up at the sky, watching the clouds. I don't know how long I lay there; it must've been a few hours at least before I heard a shout.

"Hey, Fentis! You dead or something?" I groaned and sat up, looking around sleepily. Blue was approaching me through the trees, and he skirted the pond until he stood in front of me. I got my feet out of the pond, and winced when I saw how wrinkly they'd gotten. Blue thought it was hilarious.

"Hahaha! You look like Gramps!"

I frowned and reached out with both hands, grabbing his head and brutally running them through his hair, destroying all the carefully gelled spikes and creating one mother of a mess. He shouted and untangled my hands, then felt his hair gently.

"What did you do that for?" He cried in dismay. I grinned.

"You should know better to insult me next time, 'kay?" He glared and took a few steps back.

"You're going to pay for that. Come on, let's battle!" I raised an eyebrow.

"Twice in one day? Don't you think you might be overdoing it a little?" He shook his head, waving his arms in the air like a madman.

"No! My hair must be avenged! Thou who spoilt thine perfectly styled hair shalt be punished! Now, en garde!"

I cracked up laughing. He'd obviously been reading those historical romances Daisy had stuffed her shelves with. And I never thought he'd stoop that low. I turned to Pikachu, who'd been woken up with all the shouting and was staring at Blue with a strange look on his face. I grinned.

"What do you say, Pikachu? How's about round two?"

"Pika! Pikachu!" He cried in excitement, leaping to his feet and taking a battle pose in front of Blue, his cheeks crackling fiercely. The boy grinned.

"Ah! Thou hath already drawn thine weapon! Now, watch and be amazed, you dirty wench, as I retaliate!"

He tossed out a Poké Ball, and a Pokémon I'd never seen before appeared in front of Pikachu. My Pokémon tilted his head, as confused as I was.

"Where'd you get that?" He grinned.

"I found it when I was on Route 22 earlier. Pretty sweet find, if you ask me." I was just glad he'd stopped calling me a 'wench'. I reached into my bag and pulled out my PokéDex. I almost jumped out of my skin when it started speaking in a mechanised voice. _Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokémon. It flaps its small wings busily to fly. Using its beak, it searches in grass for prey. _I looked up to see Blue looking curious.

"Oh, so that's how that thing works, eh? Good to know. Now, are you ready to battle or not?"

"Of course I am! Pikachu, Thundershock!"

"Dodge it Spearow!" The little bird darted out of the way just in time, and the electricity singed the patch of grass where he'd been standing a moment before. I frowned and gritted my teeth. This Spearow was fast. Blue grinned.

"Now that's more like it! Go, use Peck!"

It darted forwards and its beak began glowing, and I saw my opportunity.

"Wait Pikachu! Don't move!" He glanced back at me, with a look on his face that said, 'are you serious?' The bird kept coming.

"Keep waiting...get ready..." Soon it was only a metre or so away.

"Now! Thundershock!"

"What?" Shouted Blue, as Pikachu zapped the bird at close range. It collapsed on the ground, its feathers sparking and its eyes were dazed. We both blinked, and Blue recalled it.

"What just happened...?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I'm not sure, but I remember Gramps once told Green about different Pokémon types. Electric types like Pikachu seem to be super effective against Flying types like Spearow. Hmm...Good to know. Now, are you ready for my next Pokémon?"

Not even waiting for my answer he released Eevee, and it barked a greeting at Pikachu, who smiled and waved.

"Eevee, Tackle!"

"Pikachu, Thundershock!"

It was a direct hit, and Eevee shook itself before standing back up straight. Blue frowned.

"That Thundershock sure is a pain. Alright Eevee, time to use Sand-Attack!"

"Time to use _what?_" I shouted. Eevee turned around and began kicking up dirt with its hind paws, kicking it straight at Pikachu. He swatted it away with his hands but a large chunk struck him right in the eyes, effectively blinding him. He struggled to get it out, and Blue grinned.

"Alrighty, use Tackle!"

The little Pokémon slammed into my Pikachu repeatedly, knocking him all over the place. He couldn't aim his Thundershocks due to the dirt in his eyes, but I had an idea.

"Pikachu, use Thundershock and aim it all around you!"

"What? Are you insane?" Cried Blue. I shook my head and watched Pikachu store up the energy, ignoring the bumps and knocks from Eevee's continuous Tackles.

"Pika...CHUUUU!"

The electricity flew in every direction, so Eevee had no chance of escape. The Pokémon went down and Pikachu stopped discharging just before it reached me and Blue, who sighed in relief.

"That was too close...did you know that would happen?" I shook my head.

"No. I just hoped it would work, and it did." He stared at me like I was crazy.

"You do realize we could've been shocked there, right?"

"Of course I do. I'm not an idiot. Come on, we'd best get your Pokémon back to the Pokémon Centre."

He managed to pick up Eevee without squealing like a little girl this time, and we meandered down the path to the building together. Nurse Joy looked up as we entered, and she smiled.

"You two again! You should go easy with all the battling, you know."

"Yeah, sorry." We said sheepishly, handing over our Pokémon and sitting on the same sofa as before. While we waited I struck up a conversation.

"Have you heard from Green since he left?" Blue shook his head.

"Not really. He called in once when he wanted Daisy to tell Gramps something, but I can't remember him ever calling just because he could. What about Red? Has he called?"

"No. I expect he's busy, or he could have forgotten the number. He's been known to do that. He did send me a letter, though. It came with Pikachu."

"Came with Pikachu? What are you talking about?"

"Oh yeah, you don't know. Red sent Pikachu to me this morning, because he wanted to choose my first Pokémon for me. The letter came with it." He nodded.

"Have you got it here with you?"

"Yeah. Do you wanna read it?" He nodded again and I took the folded piece of paper from my pocket and handed it to him. As he read it he grinned, chuckling a few times before giving it back.

"He sounds pretty nice." I frowned at him.

"You've met him before, you should know."

"I have met him before, but I only ever saw him when he was at war with Green. I never saw him like he sounds in this letter."

"Oh, right." We lapsed into silence, and I found myself staring around the room. There wasn't much here, just a few shelves of old magazines and newspapers for Trainers to read while they waited for their Pokémon to heal.

"What do you plan to do now?" I turned to Blue, who was staring at me curiously. I shrugged.

"I dunno. I think I might head for Pewter City and take on the Gym. It'd be a good start, and I might find me another Pokémon in Viridian Forest."

"Why don't you take on the Gym here? Why wait for Pewter City?" I explained what the man had told me that morning, and he nodded.

"Oh, well I guess that answers that question. I might do the same."

"Cool, we can go together then!" He shook his head.

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"We won't gain independence if we travel together all the time. I think we should each go our own way and do our own thing, and travel at our own pace. It'd be good to meet up once in a while though, so we can test each other to see how tough we're getting." His eyes shone, and I had to admit he had a point. One of the main reasons Trainers went on journeys was to gain independence and self-confidence, and it's hard to do that when you're with someone else who you'd probably find yourself depending on more and more. I nodded.

"Sounds good."

"Oh, you two!" We looked over at the counter to see Nurse Joy waving at us, and we sprang to our feet and wandered over. Pikachu, Eevee and Spearow sat on the countertop, and they leapt at us when we approached. I caught Pikachu easily and hugged him tightly, but it was harder for Blue who had to catch two Pokémon at once. I watched in amusement as he fumbled with the two, and ended up with Spearow being upside down and flapping madly. I shook my head and gently took him, turned him up the right way and handed him back. Blue shot me a grateful look before we thanked Nurse Joy and walked outside. He returned his Pokémon to their balls and turned to me.

"So, are you going to start off towards Pewter now?" I shook my head.

"No, I don't think so. It's getting late, and I've heard the forest it like a natural maze. I don't want to get lost in the dark. I expect it'll be hard enough in the daytime." He smiled.

"Alright, well I'm going to head off. See you round!" We shook hands and he walked off towards Viridian Forest, waving as he went. I waved back, and then turned to Pikachu.

"Got any idea where we can sleep?"

"Pika?" He shot me a look like 'why are you asking me?' and I laughed.

"Of course you wouldn't know. Let's ask Nurse Joy, I bet she would." I re-entered the building and the lady smiled at me again.

"You again? What on earth have you been getting up to?"

"No Nurse Joy, I'm not here for that. I was wondering if you knew where I could spend the night, and possibly get some food too." She nodded, smiling widely.

"Of course, dear. Here at the Pokémon Centre we have rooms we can put Trainers up in, if they want to. Would you like to stay here?" I nodded eagerly.

"Very well, that's one thing sorted. As for the food, I expect you'll be able to buy something at the Poké Mart. It wouldn't be much, but it'll be hot. Sound good?" I nodded again, and my tummy grumbled in hunger. The nurse laughed.

"You'd better get going then, young lady. It sounds like you need something in your belly!"

"Thanks Nurse Joy!" I shouted, waving as I left the Pokémon Centre and headed back to the mart. It took me a while to locate the shelf of food, but I eventually found a row of carefully boxed sandwiches and various other foodstuffs.

"Do you want something, Pikachu?" He nodded and pointed at a bag of blue berries. I picked it up and glanced at the label.

"Wacan Berries?" Pikachu nodded and I shrugged.

"I'll take your word for it." I gave the bag to him to hold as I chose something for myself, which ended up being an egg sandwich. As I approached the counter, the man behind it grinned.

"Hey, I remember you! Did you deliver Professor Oak's package to him?"

"Yeah. He was most grateful to you." He nodded and glanced at the items I was holding. He paused for a moment, and then leaned forwards to speak quietly to me.

"You know what? That stuff's on the house." I blinked.

"What? Why?"

"I'm being entirely serious. You did me a favour, so now I'm doing you one. You look like a rookie Trainer anyway, so you're gonna need all the help you can get."

"...Okay, thanks mister." I turned to walk away, but he grabbed my arm.

"On second thoughts, take one of these too." He handed me a small orange spray bottle, and I frowned at it.

"What's this?"

"That there's a Super Potion. As the name suggests, it's stronger than a regular Potion by some margin, so only use it when you really need to, alright?" I nodded, slightly overwhelmed. He grinned.

"Good. Go on, shoo! Don't you have things to do?" There was a twinkle in his eyes as he spoke, and I grinned before scampering out the door.

"Thanks!" I called as it slid shut behind me. I didn't feel like going back to the Pokémon Centre just yet, so I reclaimed my spot by the pond and dumped the items on the ground in front of me. I put the Super Potion in my bag and opened the packaging on my sandwich, picked one up and began to eat. Something tugged at my elbow, and I glanced down to see Pikachu with his bag of berries.

"Pikachu..." He moaned, holding up the sealed plastic bag, and I grinned.

"Can't you open it?" He shook his head. I put down my sandwich and took the bag, opening it easily before handing it back. He took it eagerly and grabbed one of the berries and I said, "Now, don't eat them all at once, okay? It'd be good if you made those last a few days, so I wouldn't have to buy you more every single day. Understand?"

He nodded and took a small bite from one of the yellow-green berries, chewing it properly before swallowing it. I shook my head and returned to my sandwiches, staring out over the pond while I ate. Briefly I wondered where Red was, and what he was doing. He hadn't said much in his letter, other than he had nothing to do so he was getting in a lot of training. But then again, our ideas of 'nothing to do' were very different. I could sit all day in a library reading, but he'd get bored incredibly quickly and wander around the place shouting about having nothing to do. In short, he had the attention span of a gnat. Most people in Pallet Town didn't believe us when we told them we were brother and sister, and it wasn't hard to figure out why.

I soon finished my dinner of sorts and watched the surface of the water ripple in a slight breeze, and then I heard a loud splash. Pikachu had finished his berries and jumped in the water, and proceeded to swim around in circles. I blinked then shook my head, grinning. I picked up the bag of berries and examined the contents before putting it in my bag, satisfied. He'd only eaten about three, and there were still plenty left anyway. I let him swim for about 10 minutes before looking up at the sky as a raindrop fell on my arm. It began raining softly, but quickly escalated into a full-out torrent. I scooped Pikachu from the water and sprinted back to the Pokémon Centre, managing to not get too wet before I sped through the door and stopped before I slipped on the wet floor. Nurse Joy grinned at me.

"Ready for bed?"

"Yeah, I think so. I never knew the weather here could be so unpredictable." She nodded as she led me down a hallway.

"Oh, it's unpredictable all right. I remember once it was bright and sunny, about 10 minutes later a proper storm had begun. It didn't stop all day, either. Well, here we are." The room was nice and plain, with an adjoining bathroom and pile of towels on the bed. I smiled.

"Thanks Nurse Joy. This'll be great." She bowed and left. I put my bag and Pikachu down on the bed, grabbed one of the towels and started drying Pikachu. He objected at first then he sat still, allowing me to get him as dry as I could before it was time for bed. Before I took a shower I checked the contents of my bag, making sure nothing was wet and walked into the bathroom with the other towel and my winter pyjamas under my arm. I brushed my teeth and fell into bed, soon falling fast asleep with the rain beating rhythmically against the roof, Pikachu curled up against my belly.

* * *

**And that's that. As you can see, not much has happened yet, but I am getting to those bits where stuff happens. We all like it when stuff happens, right? I thought so. Anyway, R & R, please? For me? I would be ever so happy O:)**

**P.S. The chapter has been edited to right some errors that were pointed out to me. It should be fine now.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back yet again with yet another chapter. This one is rather short compared to the others, but I'm building up to a big one next time. So...I think that's all I have to say here. Time to go forth and READ! (If you want to, that is. It's not up to me what you do or don't do.)**

* * *

The clock on the wall said it was 8:30 when I woke up, and I stretched and yawned before looking around, rubbing the sleep from my tired eyes. The room was nice and bright and I swung myself out of bed, stretched again and headed into the bathroom to change. It was a habit. I came out wearing the same clothes as yesterday, only with the added precaution of a heavy waterproof coat with a hood. It was still raining, but not as hard as last night. I made sure I was packed up properly and gave Pikachu a Wacan Berry for breakfast before I left the Pokémon Centre, waving to Nurse Joy as I pulled up my hood and headed outside.

"Pika..." Pikachu complained, screwing up his face as a drop of rain landed right on his nose. I frowned.

"Do you want to go back in your ball? Just until it stops raining." He reluctantly nodded and I recalled him, and then kept on walking. It felt strange walking around without his weight on my shoulder. I exited Viridian City and entered the forest, and I slowed considerably. I was right. It was a maze in there. Picking my way slowly through the trees and knee-high grass was hard enough, but the added problem of Bug type Pokémon dropping from trees to land on your head wasn't helping.

I'd been walking in a straight line for a while when the trees and grass became so thick it was impossible to go through, so I paused and looked around for another way to go. I went left, going back the exact way I'd come while still looking for a way to go on further. It was about 20 minutes later I realized I was completely and utterly lost, and I leant against a tree to think. Suddenly I felt something land on my head and I froze. I could feel it wriggling around, and as I stood it wriggled down to my shoulder and just kept wriggling. I could feel its hairy body against my cheek as it squirmed but I refused to look at it, not wanting to scare myself into submission or something like that. The Pokémon kept wriggling until it seemed comfortable, and then it curled up and went to sleep. My heart sank. I couldn't stand here all day with a hairy bug on my shoulder! Before I could think anything else a net swooped down and snagged the bug, and I quickly turned to see what had just happened. There was a boy behind me, wearing a fisherman's hat and carrying a box full of something. The net was in his hands and the bug was in the net, wriggling and struggling to get free. The boy stared at it curiously, and then grinned at me.

"Hey! This isn't your Pokémon, is it?" I shook my head, still too shocked to answer. He smiled happily and knelt down, emptying the net onto the ground and the bug looked around for a few moments before toddling away. I watched it go, and then turned to the boy who was watching me.

"Who're you?" I asked. He dipped his hat to me.

"My name's Wesley. I'm a bug catcher. And you are?"

"Fentis. I'm from Pallet Town. What was that Pokémon?"

"That was a Weedle. Pretty common around this forest, but not too angry or anything. They make pretty good pets, actually. I have four at home." I shuddered. Who in their right mind would want _one_ of those for a pet, let alone four? Wesley grinned at me.

"Not too keen on bugs? That's alright, most girls aren't for some reason. I mean, they're all cute and squishy and cuddly..." He trailed off, a dreamy look in his eyes. I frowned.

"It's actually the first Bug type Pokémon I've ever seen, but I don't hate them. I just don't like it when they fall on my head without warning." He gaped at me.

"They do that? No bugs have ever fallen on my head, and I'm in here seven days a week!" I shrugged.

"Maybe I'm just lucky. Or unlucky." He laughed.

"So, I'm guessing you're headed to Pewter City?" I nodded.

"I'm also guessing you're hopelessly lost?" I nodded again.

"Well, you're not the first. Say, I'll make a deal with you. If you let me catch any bugs that fall on your head, I'll lead you out of here. Sound good?"

"I can't guarantee that any bugs even _will _fall on my head, you realise." He shrugged.

"I guess not, but if they do can I catch them?"

"Sure. Knock yourself out." He beamed and began walking off through the forest.

"Well, come on then! We're not even close to the other side!" I sighed before running after him.

* * *

I needn't have worried about bugs falling on my head. Almost a half hour later we were still walking, I felt something thud on my head and scuffle around in my hair. I stopped walking instantly and whispered, "Wesley! I got one!"

He whirled around with his net already in his hand, and his eyes lit up as he caught sight of the critter on my head. He swept it smoothly from my hair and I took a deep breath, and then glanced at the squirming thing in the net. It was a small yellowy-gold bug with a pink thing on its forehead. I'd never seen one of these before, and I looked up at Wesley to see his eyes were wide and he was grinning excitedly.

"What's this?"

"A Caterpie." He replied vaguely, still staring at the struggling wormlike creature. I frowned and pulled out my PokéDex, to see what it had to say. _Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon. It releases a stench from its red antenna to repel enemies. It grows by moulting repeatedly. _I frowned. The Caterpie on the screen of the device looked way different to the one in front of me. According to my PokéDex, Caterpie were supposed to be green.

"What's up with this Caterpie? It's the wrong colour." I said, and Wesley nodded.

"Exactly. Different coloured Pokémon are quite rare, I've never actually seen one before today. This Caterpie is a right beauty..." He muttered, holding the net close to his face to get a closer look at the struggling bug.

"Aren't you going to catch it?" He frowned.

"I don't have any more Poké Balls. I used my last one about 2 hours ago." I blinked, then unclipped one of the empty Poké Balls from my belt and held it out.

"Here you go." He stared at it.

"Are you giving this to me?"

"Yep. This Caterpie is obviously a big thing to you, so I want you to have this Poké Ball. Now hurry up and take it."

He took it with a trembling hand, then he held the net out to me. I stared at it.

"What do you expect me to do with this?"

"I need you to let Caterpie out, just like I did with that Weedle before. Remember?" I nodded and took the net. Caterpie was pretty light, and I kneeled down on one knee and slowly put my hand underneath it and turned it inside out. Caterpie slid out and onto the forest floor and lay dazed for a second. That was all Wesley needed before he threw the ball, hitting it right on the head and the Pokémon disappeared inside. The ball fell to the ground and shook for a bit, then became still. Wesley shrieked and bounced around, waving his arms in the air before rushing over to me and throwing his arms around me. I almost fell over but managed to retain my balance, but stayed motionless until he released me.

"I knew you'd bring me good luck!" He said, beaming from ear to ear. He scooped up Caterpie's Poké Ball and ran through the woods, beckoning me to follow.

"Where are we going?" I panted, ducking underneath low-hanging branches

"My house." He replied.

"I thought you were leading me out of the forest?"

"I am. I don't live in here, as much as I'd like to. Can you some with me so I can tell my father what happened? He wouldn't believe me otherwise." I shrugged, then realised he couldn't see me I said, "Sure, why not?" He grinned.

"Sweet! This way!" I wondered what I'd gotten myself into as we ran through the trees, towards the home of a bug catcher I'd known for less than an , my mother would faint if she knew what I was doing!

* * *

Wesley lived in Pewter City, and I looked around as we walked through the streets. It wasn't as big as I thought it'd be. It always looked bigger on TV for some reason. Most things did, actually. His house looked pretty normal, and I don't know why but I expected it to be covered in vines and moss and other plants. Oh well. He held the door open for me and I walked inside, staring at everything I saw. There were sofas, a dining table, a TV, a kitchen and other housey things like that. A man and a woman were sitting on the sofa, and glanced up as we entered.

"Son? Who's this?" Asked his mother, frowning in suspicion.

"Relax mom, this is my friend Fentis. Fentis, these are my parents Joanna and Todd." I dipped my head to them, and they smiled.

"I wish you'd told us you would be bringing someone home, Wesley. I would've cleaned up." Joanna said, and Todd shook his head.

"The house is fine, dear. Well, make yourself comfortable Fentis." Wesley groaned.

"No, Dad. She won't be staying long, I just brought her here so I could show you what she found for me." His father raised an eyebrow.

"And what would that be?"

Wesley opened the Poké Ball and released the Caterpie inside, and his father's eyes widened when he saw it. He pointed at it and began stuttering.

"I-is...is that really...really...real?" Wesley nodded.

"Of course it is! We found it in the forest. Or more like it found us, actually." Todd stared at me, his mouth gaping like a fish.

"H-how did you...find this...?"

"It sorta fell on my head, to tell the truth." I said sheepishly. He blinked and turned back to his son, who began a minute-by-minute account of everything that'd happened to lead up to the capture of Caterpie. I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, not sure what to do until Joanna beckoned me over to sit with her on the sofa.

"Sorry about that, dear. They do love their bugs, my boys. But really, what you did was incredible!" I frowned and tilted my head to one side.

"What did I do?"

"You found a shiny Caterpie in Viridian Forest! Todd's been searching for one for almost 10 years now, but he's never even caught a glimpse. You, on the other hand, found one the first time you went in! That's more than coincidence, if you ask me." I shrugged.

"Well, I can't really help it. I mean, it did fall on my head." She laughed.

"Of course! Well I can bet you my life's savings that Todd's going to scour that forest from top to bottom, now that he knows they live in there." I smiled sheepishly.

"Hehe, sorry." She shook her head, raising a cup of tea to her lips.

"Don't be sorry, my girl. I want them to be happy, and if crawling through the grass on their hands and knees waiting for bugs to fall on their heads is what makes them happy, then that's what I'll let them do. But what about you? What are you going to do now that you're here?"

"I think I'm going to challenge the Pewter City Gym. That is what I came here for, after all." She nodded, staring at me intently over the rim of her cup.

"You have Pokémon of your own, then? Can you show me?"

I blinked, and then grabbed Pikachu's Poké Ball and released him. He appeared on the coffee table, staring around curiously. Todd and Wesley didn't look up from the Caterpie, who seemed to be enjoying all of the attention it was receiving. Joanna stared at Pikachu, and then she shook her head again.

"Do you know what type of Pokémon the Pewter City Gym specialises in?" She took her answer from the blank look on my face, and she sighed.

"Every Pokémon Gym in every region has a specialty type that its Leader and Trainers all use, and the Pewter City Gym is no exception. Our Gym here is a Rock type Gym, and I hate to say it but your Pikachu won't last three seconds out there."

"Why not? Pikachu doesn't go down easily." She nodded, taking another long drink of tea.

"Be that as it may, there are type advantages and disadvantages to come into play. For example, your Pikachu is an Electric type. While it may be super effective against Flying and Water types, it has no effect whatsoever on Ground types. Most of the Pokémon used in the Pewter Gym are dual Ground-Rock types, so Pikachu won't be of any use to you at all."

I glanced at Pikachu, and saw his head was low. I scooped him up and hugged him, whispering, "Don't worry, you're still great. You can't help your weaknesses." He brightened a little and nuzzled my cheek. I turned back to Joanna, who was smiling happily.

"What do you propose I do, then?" She grinned even wider.

"We could try teaching Pikachu a new move, one that would overcome the type disadvantage he faces." I blinked.

"We can do that?"

"Of course! But the question is this; does he want to do this?"

He sat up straight up in my lap, glaring in determination.

"Pika pika!" Joanna nodded.

"Alright then. We'll get started then. Prepare yourself, for this won't be easy."

It took almost the entire remainder of the day, but eventually we nailed the move. Joanna assured us it would aid us greatly in the Gym, and I thanked her before heading off to the Pokémon Centre. Todd and Wesley were camping in the forest that night, waiting to see if any other strangely coloured Pokémon decided to appear. Pikachu, who had been working hard all afternoon, had fallen asleep before we reached the building, and like last night Nurse Joy led us to a bedroom we could use. I put Pikachu on my pillow and had a shower before hopping straight into bed, careful not to make the mattress bounce too much. It was hard to sleep, as my head was full of thoughts of what would happen in the Gym tomorrow. Eventually my brain shut down and I fell fast asleep, Pikachu curled up in the crook of my bent elbow.

* * *

**Nothing much has happpened yet, even after three chapters, but next time there's the Gym and Mt. Moon all in one! Stick around if you want to read that, or if you feel like it. R&R if you liked it and want more!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Back again with a (reasonably) long chapter! Woohoo, school holidays! I probably won't do much, so I might upload more because I get bored. A lot. I mean it. Look forward to that, if you like the story so far.**

* * *

It was raining again the next morning, though not too hard. I was thankful for that. After breakfast Pikachu and I worked on his new move again to make sure none of his skill had gone in the night, and when I was satisfied I headed towards the Gym. Pikachu was determined to weather the rain this time (excuse the pun) so I turned up my hood and he hid on my shoulder beneath my coat. The Gym wasn't hard to find, it was the big building with the sign outside saying 'Pokémon Gym'. I didn't stop to read it, instead heading inside. The floor was littered with rocks of all sizes with a crude path going up the centre. I walked forwards but froze when a man shouted at me.

"Yo, champ in the making! You here to take on Brock?" I looked around for the source of the voice, and blinked when I saw the man in overalls and glasses grinning at me. I nodded.

"Excellent! Then I expect you know what to expect here?"

"Rock types?" I answered. He laughed.

"Good one! Yes, there'll be a few of those, but let me tell you this. Brock is no pushover. He trains seven days a week, rain or shine. You got a plan for taking him down?" I glanced at Pikachu.

"Sort of. I can't really make a plan for something unpredictable, now can I?" He laughed again.

"Very true! Now, I'll delay you no longer. Off you go, towards victory!" He pumped his fist in the air, and I stared for a few more moments before walking past. I walked carefully over all of the rocks in the path, clambering over a few of them when they were too big to sidestep. I'd just walked past a huge one when someone leapt out in front of me, and I froze in my place. It was a young kid wearing incredibly green clothes, and he grinned at the shock on my face.

"Sorry girlie, but you're still a million light-years away from facing Brock!" He pulled out a Poké Ball and held it out.

"Go, Geodude!" The Pokémon looked like a rock with arms, and it slammed its fists together and cried, "Geodude!" I paused for a moment before letting Pikachu out of my coat. He leapt to the floor of the Gym, sparks crackling across his cheeks. The kid smirked.

"Do you really think you have a chance of beating me with that Pokémon? It's your funeral! Geodude, Tackle!"

The thing began bouncing across the floor to Pikachu, ready to slam into it with the force of a wrecking ball. I waited as it approached, and when it was about to hit I shouted, "Now!"

Pikachu's fist glowed orange and he swung his arm, slamming right into Geodude's face and knocking it back several metres. I whistled. Joanna was right. That move was strong. The boy's face was white as a sheet as he recalled his defeated Pokémon, then took out another Poké Ball and released another. This one looked a little like a yellow mole, and it looked around curiously.

"Sandshrew, Sand Attack!"

"Close your eyes, Pikachu!" He squeezed his eyes as shut as they could go, and the sand caught in his fur but otherwise did absolutely nothing to hinder him. The boy gulped as Pikachu readied his attack, and Sandshrew was soon down for the count. The boy recalled his second Pokémon and stared at me as I walked past him, continuing on to the back of the Gym.

"What was that about being light-years away?" I asked cheekily. He gulped and shook his head, waving his hands around.

"No no no! I meant light-years as a measurement of distance, not time!"

"Uh-huh, sure." I kept on walking, being careful of any other people wanting to try and scare me to death. No-one did, and I reached the back of the Gym without trouble. There was a raised platform which I climbed onto, and I stopped when I saw the boy standing there. He had spiky brown hair and squinty eyes, and he didn't look very happy either. He sighed as I approached.

"I expect you want to battle me?"

"Yes, that is the purpose of a Gym, is it not? To battle the Leader?" He cracked a grin.

"I guess so. As you may have guessed, I am the Leader."

"You don't say." I answered sarcastically. He nodded.

"I do say. My name is Brock, and I am a user of the Rock type. What's your name?"

"Fentis." He nodded again.

"Fentis, good name. Alright then, shall we get this started?"

"If you think you're ready, then let's get it on." He grinned again and tossed out a Poké Ball.

"Go, Geodude!" It looked exactly the same as the last one. I don't know why I was expecting it to be different. I didn't know a lot of things when it came to Pokémon.

"Pikachu, go!" Brock raised an eyebrow.

"A Pikachu? How do you plan to win with that?"

"Very skilfully, of course." He stared, and then nodded.

"Alright then. It's your choice, after all. Geodude, use Defence Curl!" It curled up in a tight ball, and a shiny coat of something appeared on its bumpy surface for a moment before it disappeared again.

"Pikachu, Rock Smash!" Brock's eyebrows rose as Pikachu darted towards Geodude, pulled back a glowing orange fist and socked him right in the face. It was a one-hit KO, and Brock exhaled deeply while he recalled it.

"Now I get it. Nice one."

"Thanks."

"It's not going to happen again though. Go, Onix!" He hurled the ball high into the air, and the ground shook with the impact of the creature that appeared. It was a giant snake made of rocks, and it stared down at Pikachu with a gleam in its eyes.

"Oh." Was all I said. Brock nodded.

"Oh indeed. Onix, Rock Tomb!"

The Pokémon slammed its tail on the ground, causing some rocks to bounce in the air. It used its tail like a bat, smacking the rocks right at Pikachu. He managed to dodge them all, but then he looked around. He was trapped inside a cage of rocks! I frowned.

"Pikachu, Rock Smash!" He smashed a rock and scampered away from the tomb, and Brock frowned.

"I guess that is one tiny detail we overlooked."

"And it's that tiny detail that's going to win me this battle. Pikachu, Rock Smash!"

"Onix, Bind!" The rock snake dove at Pikachu, preparing to encircle him and crush him in the solid coils. Pikachu's eyes widened as he slowed his charge.

"Jump!" I cried, and he leapt into the air and slammed his fist down on Onix's head, sending it back down to the floor. It wasn't beaten yet, but I could tell it was severely tired as it got back up slowly, swaying.

"One more time, Pikachu! Back of the head!"

"Pika-CHUUUU!" He shouted, smacking Onix's head back into the ground and this time it didn't get back up. Brock blinked as Pikachu returned to me, and I hugged him tightly.

"Hmm...Well, that's that, then." He recalled his Onix and approached me, and a man ran up the stairs and handed him a velvet-lined tray. In the centre of it was a badge, in the shape of a simple grey octagon. Brock picked it up and the man hurried away, then he turned to me.

"Under the orders of the Pokémon League, I am obligated to give you this badge. Congratulations, you've earned the Boulder Badge!"

I took it, not really sure what to do with it now I had it. I stared up at him and he seemed to notice my confusion, for he said, "Do you have a Badge case?"

"Oh, yeah! I've got one here somewhere!" I gave Pikachu the Boulder Badge to hold while I scrambled around in my bag, and Brock chuckled. I didn't see how it was amusing. I eventually pulled out the case and opened it up, and held it up for Pikachu to put the Badge in. We both grinned as it slid into the first empty spot, then we high-fived in triumph.

"Are you quite finished?" Brock drawled, and I turned back to him. He was smiling, and his smile became even wider when I said, "No. I doubt I ever will be, either." That made him laugh.

"Alright then, moving on. Where do you think you'll go next?" I gave him a blank look and he shook his head, muttering under his breath.

"Well, if you don't know, I'd suggest Cerulean City. It's just on the other side of Mt. Moon to the east." I nodded.

"Sounds good. Well, see ya later!" I called as I left. I passed the green-clad boy who hung his head, and I smirked as I emerged into the open, rain still falling softly. I hated this kind of rain more than heavy rain, as this kind just seemed to get _everywhere. _I pulled my hood up and Pikachu hid on my shoulder again, and I ran through the puddles to the east side of town. I passed the museum on the way, and something in the window made me skid to a halt, almost slipping over. That would've been embarrassing. It was a poster about the newest exhibit they had, mainly Pokémon fossils. I'd never seen one of those. I walked over to the building and tried the doors, but they were locked. I shrugged and turned away, continuing my way towards the towering mountain. I could come back here another day.

Route 3 was surrounded by rocky hills and the ground was slippery, so I picked my way carefully through the huge boulders. I was trying to edge past a particularly big one when my foot slipped, and I found myself falling. I cried out in surprise as I tumbled down the ledge, falling head over heels until I landed in a heap at the bottom. As I picked myself up I checked on Pikachu, and was relieved to find that he was unharmed, just a little dizzy.

"Hey, you over there! Are you okay?"

There was a huge man waddling towards me. He looked like he could be running, but I wasn't sure. He wore a huge backpack and carried a stick, and as he drew closer I saw he had a large beard.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just took a little tumble, that's all." He stopped in front of me, red-faced and panting. He obviously doesn't do much running.

"You sure? It looked like it hurt." I shook my head.

"No, I'm honestly okay. Just a little...discombobulated." He grinned.

"We've all experienced that around here, girl. There are some of us who basically live on top of this here mountain, and lots of others who wish they could. My name's Sebastian, but people call me Seb." He held out his hand, and I shook it. It was huge compared to mine.

"I'm Fentis, and this is Pikachu." He popped his head out of my coat and grinned at Seb.

"Pika!" He doffed his hat.

"Nice to meet the pair of you. So, where are you headed?"

"Cerulean City. Brock said it was through Mt. Moon, which I'm assuming is around here somewhere."

"And right you are. This whole area is technically Mt. Moon, but the actual tunnel is about two hundred metres that way." He pointed, and my heart sank.

"Well, I can't exactly get back up there, now can I?"

"Of course you can! I assume you didn't beat Brock by a fluke, so you must have some skill. Now it's time to use it." I turned to him and he was staring at me entirely seriously.

"Would you be able to lead me to the entrance, Sebastian?" I asked, as nicely as I could manage. He grinned.

"It'd be my pleasure, Fentis. Follow me!" He set off through the rain and I ran after him, trying to dodge as many puddles as I could. Seb just went right through the middle, not caring about getting his clothes muddy. I was different. I had to wear these for the rest of my journey, so I was being more careful. My hands and feet were soon coated in the thick brown sludge, and I stomped along gloomily. I think the weather was affecting my mood. Seb glanced over his shoulder a few times to make sure I was following, and he stopped suddenly. I almost crashed right into him, then peered around him to see what the problem was. There was a giant rock right in the middle of the path. It was pretty solid, so there was no chance of me or even Seb being able to move it. He shook his head and turned to me.

"The rain must've loosened it from its spot up on that ledge. I'm afraid we'll have to go around." My shoulders sagged, and then I had an idea. I turned to Pikachu, and it was obvious he was thinking the exact same thing.

"No we don't. Excuse me, please." I squeezed past him and stood in front of the rock, sizing it up. I was sure Pikachu would be able to handle it.

"You ready?" I asked. He nodded firmly, giving me a look that said, 'Come on, I was _born _ready!' I grinned and loosened my coat, allowing him to jump out and splash down to the ground.

"Right then. Pikachu, Rock Smash!" He charged right at the rock before jumping into the air and slamming it with his tiny fist, but it still shattered to millions of tiny pieces under his brute strength. Seb's mouth fell open and I grinned, scooping Pikachu from the ground and putting him back on my shoulder. I walked forwards, and then turned back when Seb wasn't following.

"Are we going or not?" I called. He jumped a little before running after me, and we walked on in silence.

"That was impressive." He said when he got his breath back.

"Why thank you. I would've thought one of your Pokémon would be able to do that. Don't you find this kind of thing all the time?" He nodded.

"Yes I do, but it's not unusual to find one every day. It'd just get too tiring to smash every single one I found, and my Pokémon would get tired as well." I shrugged, stepping over a small crack in the ground. That made sense, I guess. As we walked the going got tougher, and I lost my footing more than once just to be saved by Seb. It'd been about half an hour, and the scenery remained seemingly unchanged. I looked around, and then turned to Seb.

"Doesn't this place drive you mad? Everything looks the same." He shook his head, grinning.

"No, that's part of the challenge of living out here. Finding your way home is an adventure in itself, and I always feel like I've accomplished when it takes me less than an hour to get back."

"That would drive me mad, I know it." He laughed and we carried on. I was pretty much soaked now, and Seb's beard had absorbed water like a sponge. I found it quite entertaining that whenever we stopped he squeezed it, and water would stream out in a never-ending drip. It made me laugh a few times. Before long we arrived at a slightly easier bit of ground to walk on, and I strode ahead confidently.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Seb asked, coming up behind me. I turned to him, frowning.

"Of course I do. I'm going where I need to go." He rolled his eyes and walked past me, then stopped beside a wall.

"You're going right in here. This is Mt. Moon's entrance." My eyes widened.

"Really? We're here?" He nodded.

"Yep, really." I grinned.

"Thanks, Seb. Let me know if you need a favour in return or anything." I waved as I walked in, ducking my head to avoid hitting it on the low roof. He nodded at me and walked away, whistling a merry tune to himself as he disappeared into the rain. I was by myself again, but then I loosened my coat and Pikachu looked around curiously, and then glanced up at me.

"Pika?" I nodded, looking around.

"Yeah. I have no idea where we're going, either."

Seeing as I was already a little lost, I just started walking randomly in a random direction. I should've convinced Seb to come in here with me. At least then I'd have someone who knew their way around. In Mt. Moon I had no way of telling the time, and the only noises I ever heard were the dripping of water from stalactites, the flutter of wings as Pokémon flew about in the dark and the fall of my own feet. Pikachu clung to my shoulder, as though reminding me he was still there. I was grateful for that, as it was rather spooky in the dark. I was just walking and minding my own business when suddenly the ground wasn't there anymore, and I yelped as I fell forwards into a giant hole in the ground. I managed to pick myself up and I felt around for Pikachu.

"Pikachu? You around here somewhere?"

"Pika!" He called, and I found him and he crawled back onto my shoulder.

"Sorry about that." I said lamely, and he snorted.

"Pikachu, pika pika." It sounded like he was scolding me, and I nodded.

"Yeah, I'll try not to do that again." I kept on walking, and soon the ground became quite a steep upwards slope and my shoes kept slipping.

"Pika?"

"I dunno, it's like a crater or something." I managed to pull myself out and I kept going. My eyes were adjusted to the gloom now, and I could see things as I looked around. I now noticed there were craters all over the place, and I wove my way through them like I was in a maze. The ceiling was incredibly high and covered in stalactites, which kept dripping on my face. Suddenly the ground was soft and I looked down. I was walking in golden sand which clung to my wet shoes, and I plodded on with no idea of where I was supposed to go. I turned a corner and found a ladder in front of me, and I tested the strength of the rungs before I climbed down. This new place wasn't too exciting, but there was a little waterfall running from a hole in the wall and pooling at the bottom. I wandered around and found another ladder which I descended, and I was in a much larger area, and it seemed to be a lot lighter as well. Weren't we supposed to be about three levels underground? I stayed where I was as I heard a voice, and I listened or a few seconds. It was a man, and he didn't sound too happy about something. I poked my head around a rock to see him, and I frowned in confusion. He was dressed entirely in black, and his shirt had a red R on the front. He looked very weird. I got to my feet and stepped out, and his head whipped around to face me. He frowned and reached in his pocket, presumably for a Poké Ball.

"We're pulling a big job in here, kid! Get lost!" He threw the Poké Ball, and a little blue bat with no eyes appeared. I pulled out my PokéDex to get an idea of what I was fighting, as I didn't think this guy would be too nice to me if I lost. _Zubat, the Bat Pokémon. It checks its surroundings and location by using the reflections of the ultrasonic waves from its mouth. _That probably explained why it didn't have any eyes.

"Go, Pikachu!" He leapt onto the ground, keeping his eyes fixed on the flapping Zubat.

"Thundershock!"

"Pika...CHUUUU!" The bolt zapped the bat, making it cry out and collapse on the ground, twitching in a way not too dissimilar from Blue's Eevee. The man frowned again and recalled it, and then pulled out another Poké Ball.

"Go, Ekans!"

Ekans was a purple snake with a yellow underbelly, and it hissed at Pikachu. I held up my PokéDex again. _Ekans, the Snake Pokémon. It sneaks through the grass without making a sound and strikes unsuspecting prey from behind. _I glanced back up, and was just in time to see the Pokémon wrap its long body around Pikachu, and begin squeezing.

"Pikachu, Thundershock again!"

There was no way it could miss, and the Ekans unwrapped itself and hissed in anger. I thought hard.

"Rock Smash!" Pikachu swung his fist at the snake, knocking it back into its Trainer. He recalled his defeated Ekans and glared at me.

"So...you are good." He muttered before turning and running, heading straight up the ladder I'd just come down. I retrieved Pikachu and looked him over carefully.

"You alright?" I asked. He nodded and frowned after the man, then turned back to me.

"Pika! Pikachu!"

"You want to follow him?" He nodded again, and I put him on my shoulder and chased after the man. He was nowhere to be seen at the top of the ladder, but Pikachu pointed with his tail eagerly.

"Can you hear him?" I asked, and he nodded again.

"Pika!"

"Alright, I'm going!" I ran through the cave, jumping over the occasional crater and being guided by Pikachu. Every now and then we'd stop and Pikachu would listen while I caught me breath, then we'd be off again. We arrived at another ladder and I glanced at Pikachu, who was angling his ears down towards it and nodding at me. I grabbed the sides of it and braced my feet against the poles and slid down it like it was a 90˚ slide, and I leapt off at the bottom and landed on both feet. Before I could look around, someone yelled at me.

"Hey, you!"

I was battling again. He had a Sandshrew, just like the kid in the Pewter Gym. Pikachu quickly took care of it with a Rock Smash to the face and the man ran away. I didn't bother following this one. He didn't really have many places he could go, and I explored the place I was in thoroughly. What did all those guys in black want here? The first one I fought had told me they were pulling a big job, but what did that mean? What job? Oh, I was getting all confused again. There were no little side tunnels in this area so I went back up the ladder and kept wandering around. A while later I found another ladder, but there was a man standing beside this one, and he looked worried.

"Hey, is something wrong?" I asked as I approached. He whirled to face me, and he broke out into a huge grin.

"Oh, you don't know how pleased I am to see you! Are you a Pokémon Trainer?" I nodded, and he sighed in relief.

"You're just who I've been waiting for, then! Come over here and listen carefully." This was more than a little weird, but I went over to the ladder and knelt down beside it, and tilted my head so I could listen better

"Did you guys hear about what happened to our scouts?" A gruff voice said from somewhere below us.

"Yeah. Didn't they get it handed to them by a little kid?"

"According to them, anyway."

"HAHA! What losers! I don't know why they're still members, after losing like that!"

"You're not thinking in the long term, you idiot! What if this kid comes after all of Team Rocket? It could be bad news for us."

"Mhmm, the Boss wouldn't like that one bit. Well, what do you propose we do?"

That was the last of the voices, as the two speakers seemed to begin whispering as though they were afraid of being overheard. I sat back on the ground and turned to the man, who was frowning.

"This Team Rocket...What is their intention? What do they mean to do here in Mt. Moon?"

"I've fought a couple of their members here and there. One of them said they were pulling a big job here." He stared at me.

"Are you the little kid who they were talking about?"

"Yes, but I'm no little kid!" He nodded.

"Obviously not. Tell you what, can you do me a favour?" I frowned.

"Depends what it is."

"Could you go down there and find out what Team Rocket is up to?" I blinked at him.

"Are you mad? They'd flay me alive!"

"I doubt that. You've managed to defeat two of their members, so your skill must be real. I'm sure the rest of them will pose no threat to you whatsoever. Please?"

I frowned, but inside I was curious. I wanted to know what was going on here as well, and the best way to do that seemed to be to confront them head-on. I turned to Pikachu, and saw that his ears were angled down to the hole. He wanted to do it, I could tell, so I sighed and nodded.

"Alright, I'll do it. But I blame you if anything happens." He nodded.

"Of course, of course. Now please, hurry! Who knows what they could be doing down there?"

"I said I'd do it, so there's no need to rush me!" I spat, and the man fell silent. I lowered my legs into the hole, grabbed onto the ladder and slid down. My feet hit the ground sooner than I'd anticipated so I almost fell over, but I managed to pick myself up and look around. There was a large open area here, and no Team Rocket men in sight. I walked forwards cautiously, and when I rounded a corner I almost screamed. There was a Team Rocket man standing in front of me, hiding out of my peripheral vision in the dark.

"Got you! You're not going to get the jump on me!" He pulled out a Poké Ball and released a small purple rat. I glanced at my PokéDex. _Rattata, the Moue Pokémon. It searches for food all day. It gnaws on hard objects to wear down its fangs, which grow constantly during its lifetime. _I looked up at the Rattata, and saw that it did indeed have large fangs. More like buck teeth, actually, but who was I to judge? Pikachu took it down quickly with a Rock Smash, and I mentally thanked Joanna for teaching it to him. It was making this so much easier. He also had a Sandshrew that went down to a Rock Smash, and then he backed away.

"You...who are you?" I didn't say anything, instead collecting Pikachu and running off through the twists and turns of Mt. Moon. I'd just turned another corner when yet another black-clad man jumped out at me, and challenged me to a fight. He had the same Pokémon as the bulk of Team Rocket seemed to have, consisting of a Rattata and Zubat. He too backed away from me, but he wasn't like the last one. He was the kind of villain that you see in movies, when they meet the hero and reveal their entire plan in one of those long-winded monologues.

"We, Team Rocket, shall be the first to find the fossils! Reviving the Pokémon from them will earn us huge riches!" What was he on about? I don't know, but I ran past him and went through a narrow crack in the rocks, and emerged into a small cavern with stairs leading up. I climbed up them, and almost jumped out of my skin when someone yelled at me.

"Hey, stop right there! I found these fossils! They're both mine!" I turned to see a man in a long white lab coat and shiny glasses running towards me. He was one of those people who really should stick to the books and complicated equations, and leave running to the professionals. As he ran he fumbled in his pocket and threw out a Poké Ball, and I stumbled away from what burst out. It was a pile of purple ooze with eyes, a large gaping mouth and hands that reached towards me. It was gross. I leapt onto a rock to get away from it, and pulled out my PokéDex. _Grimer, the Sludge Pokémon. It was born when sludge in a dirty stream was exposed to the moon's X-rays. It appears among filth. _Eww, that sounded nasty.

"Go, Pikachu!" The Grimer looked huge compared to Pikachu, and it opened its mouth wide enough to eat his head. It was very disturbing.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!" Grimer seemed to absorb the attack, thought it did slow down considerably.

"Alright, Grimer! Use Pound!" The ooze suddenly shot forwards and whacked Pikachu around the face with its ooze-hand, knocking him back to the nearby wall.

"Are you alright?" I shouted, and he picked himself up and nodded determinedly.

"Pika pika!" I sighed in relief, then called, "Thundershock again! Don't stop until it goes down!"

"Pika...CHUUUU!" The electricity surged from his small body in a never-ending stream, and soon Grimer was down. The man recalled it, frowning and sweating in anxiety.

"Alright, that's not too bad. We're not losing yet. Go, Voltorb!" For a moment I thought his Poké Ball hadn't opened, and then I realized it had eyes and was glaring at me. I whipped out my PokéDex yet again. _Voltorb, the Ball Pokémon. It looks just like a Poké Ball. It is dangerous because it may electrocute or explode on touch. _That didn't sound too good.

"Voltorb, Sonicboom!" The shockwave was huge, and it sent both me and Pikachu reeling from the impact. I almost fell back down the stairs and had to windmill my arms to regain my balance, and Pikachu flew backwards a few metres and picked himself back up again pretty fast. He looked angry now and crouched with all four paws on the ground, and then he darted forwards so fast he was almost invisible. He sent Voltorb flying backwards, but kept running and socked it with a Rock Smash, knocking it out. I blinked and pulled out my PokéDex and quickly scanned Pikachu, and he had indeed learnt a new move. Quick Attack. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. The man seemed to be freaking out now, as he was trembling when he recalled his Voltorb and sent out his last Pokémon, which looked a little like a floating purple cloud. _Koffing, the Poison Gas Pokémon. Lighter-than-air gases in its body keep it aloft. The gases do not only smell, but are also explosive. _Yet another Pokémon that could explode in my face. Why do people seem to like these Pokémon better than the others? I shrugged.

"Alright Pikachu, time to use Quick Attack!" He darted at the Koffing and slammed into it, knocking it to the ground and making it groan.

"Alright, now use Thundershock!" The bolts of electricity zapped the Pokémon and it rolled about, trying to escape the static. It couldn't.

"Finish it off with a Quick Attack!" As Pikachu sped towards the helpless Koffing, the man smiled. Instantly I knew it was a trap, but it was too late to do anything about it.

"Koffing, use Smog!" Purple gas hissed from the pores on Koffing's body, quickly enveloping Pikachu and drifting back towards me. I coughed and pulled the front of my shirt over my nose, holding my breath and trying to fan it away with my hands.

"Pikachu!" I shouted, really afraid now. When he didn't reply, I panicked. I ran forwards into the purple cloud, the gas stinging my eyes and making them water. I couldn't see a thing, and I tripped on something and fell on my face. I rolled over and inspected it, and found Pikachu unconscious next to Koffing. I coughed like mad as I picked him up and wrapped him in my jersey, and then I slowly got to my feet and staggered away. The gas was taking its toll on me, and I stumbled and fell to one knee, coughing and gasping. I had no idea what became of the man or of Koffing, as I toppled onto my side and blacked out.

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**Yay for cliffhangers! If you want the next bit, I shall put it simply for you; The more you review, the sooner you'll get it. Kapeesh? R&R, for Fentis' sake!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay, people! I actually completely forgot about this story, even though I was writing it just last night...Never mind! I'm here again with another chapter, which is sort of a filler actually. So yeah, not much happens. I'm aware that I hav a tendency to spell the word 'and' like 'adn', and I tell you it is not on purpose. I just type fast and my stupid spellchecker doesn't pick it up.**

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I woke up in a bed and rolled onto my side, groaning. There was sunlight streaming through the curtains and I squeezed my eyes shut, mentally cursing whoever had turned it on in the middle of my sleep. Someone was beside me, but I couldn't make out any features through my watery eyes. I felt someone grab my hand and start speaking, and I focused on the voice.

"Oh, you're awake! That's a relief! I didn't think you would for a while there!"

I recognised the voice, but I couldn't remember where I'd heard it before. There was something throbbing in the back of my head, and I poked it gently. It hurt. Someone grabbed my arm and pulled it away from my head, saying, "Oh, don't touch that. You've got quite a nasty lump." I frowned.

"Who're you?" I slurred, still half asleep.

"Open your eyes and you can see for yourself." So I did. It was the man from Mt. Moon, who'd asked me to go down and investigate Team Rocket in the first place. I glared at him, and he smiled sheepishly.

"Yes, I understand. You blame me, don't you?"

"Of course." At that moment Nurse Joy walked in, a Chansey following her obediently.

"Oh, you're awake! Excellent! You inhaled a lot of that gas. You should be more careful in the future." I frowned at the man.

"Maybe grown men should stop asking children to investigate criminal organisations." She tutted.

"I know, he's told me all about that. But he was also the man who carried you from Mt. Moon, all the way through Route 4 to here. He saved your life, and Pikachu's too." I sat bolt upright at that, looking around wildly.

"Where's Pikachu? Is he alright?" She held up a hand and nodded.

"He's just fine. He's been wanting to see you since he woke up, but we thought it was better that both of you were conscious first."

"Well bring him in then." She nodded to the Chansey, who went back outside and came back with Pikachu in her arms. As soon as he saw me he leapt onto the floor, raced to the bed, jumped up and nuzzled my chin viciously.

"Pika! Pika Pikachu!" He wailed, and I wrapped my arms around him.

"Relax, I'm fine. We're both fine." He stared up at me with his big wide eyes and nuzzled my neck with his nose. It tickled, and I laughed loudly. The man and Nurse Joy stood beside my bed and smiled, and then the man cleared his throat.

"Do you remember that scientist you were battling?"

"Of course. It was his Koffing that put me in here." He nodded.

"Well, do you remember those fossils he found?" I nodded.

"Anyway, he thought he'd killed you, and was in such a hurry to leave that he left one behind." He dug around in a bag that I recognised as mine and pulled out a hunk of rock with a twisty seashell design on it. I glanced closer, and then said, "That's a Helix Fossil."

"How do you know that?" Asked the man.

"I read it in a book at home, and I once watched a documentary about Pokémon Fossils when I was sick." He glanced at the fossil, and then turned back to me.

"Well, would you like it? I have no use for it." I frowned.

"How do you expect me to carry that around? No thanks, but I do know what you can do with it."

"Yes?"

"Take it to Pewter Museum. They're having an exhibit on Pokémon Fossils, so I'm sure they'll love another one to add to their collection." He smiled.

"Very well, I'll take it myself. As a matter of fact, I'll go right now. Goodbye, and thank you!" He waved as he went out the door, and I sighed.

"How much longer will I be stuck in here?" I asked. Nurse Joy smiled.

"Not too much longer. You should be out before lunchtime."

"Good. It's boring in here." She laughed before leaving me alone again. Pikachu looked up at me, and I looked back down at him.

"Pika?"

"Yes, I am very bored."

"Pikachu." I grinned before relaxing, letting my head sink into the pillow as I fell back to sleep.

* * *

An hour later a Chansey woke me up and led me to the front desk to sign out. I was relieved to find they'd washed and cleaned all of my clothes, and they were still warm as I put them on. It wasn't raining anymore, but it was still overcast and quite dark outside, despite it being almost midday. As I stood at the desk I listened to various things that Nurse Joy told me, mainly about being careful and knowing when a battle was too rough for me. I nodded and "yes"ed when necessary, and they let me go. I thanked them and turned to go, when a voice stopped me.

"Fentis? Is that you?"

I turned to see Blue standing just inside the door, and I blinked in surprise.

"Blue?" He nodded and walked up to me, his head tilted to one side.

"Yeah, it's me. What are you doing here?"

"I just checked out." He frowned in confusion.

"What does that mean?" I led him over to the side and told him everything that'd happened, and his eyes widened in horror when I told him about the Koffing and poison gas.

"You're lucky that guy was there. You could've died!"

"I know that, Blue. But he was the guy who told me to go down there in the first place." He frowned and stared at me.

"Have you had anything to eat yet?" I shook my head. I hadn't. I was hungry.

"Want to get some lunch? It's on me."

"Sure." I nodded and followed him out of the Pokémon Centre, and then I froze.

"What's up?" Blue asked, having gone a few steps ahead before noticing I wasn't behind him.

"Where are we?" He frowned, and then nodded in realisation.

"Oh, right. This is Cerulean City, on the other side of Mt. Moon."

I should've guessed that as I looked around. The road was paved with large grey stone slabs and the grass was a pale green colour that I quite liked. People were milling about, as thought they had nothing better to do that wander aimlessly. I caught sight of a large building and peered closer at it, before realizing it was the Cerulean City Gym. I tuned to Blue.

"You been there yet?" He nodded.

"Yeah, it's not too challenging. I take it you got the Boulder Badge?" I nodded, and he smiled.

"Me too. Oh, let's go here!" There was a little café on a small hill on the riverbank, and we sat at a table and glanced at the menus. It was pretty cheap here, and I found that everything on it made my mouth water. I eventually settled for lasagne and a berry smoothie. The waiter came around to our table and we ordered our brunch-for me, anyway-and then we watched the river. I peered at the small spit of land across from it and swore I could see the opening to a cave.

"What?" Asked Blue, confused. I pointed over his shoulder to where I saw the cave mouth.

"What's in that cave over there?" He frowned and stared where I was pointing, then he pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. It was a map, and we both glanced at it as he spread it out on the table.

"Cerulean City is here..." He muttered, pointing to a spot at the base of a mountain. His finger traced the small blue vein down the page.

"And this is the river."

"The cave must be here." I said, pointing at a spot on the bank of the river. He bent down to have a look, and then he pointed at something beside it.

"There's something written here."

"Well, what does it say?"

"Cerulean Cave, I think." I frowned.

"That's pretty boring." Blue grinned, and I pointed at something on the west side of Kanto.

"What's that?" He glanced down at it.

"That's the Lost Tower, where dead Pokémon are buried and stuff." I nodded.

"And that?" He looked again.

"That's the Power Plant. It's kinda self explanatory. Why do you want to know?" I shrugged.

"Because I want to memorise as much as I can before I have to go." He frowned.

"Don't you have your own map?"

"No."

"That probably explains why Daisy gave me two, then." He dug around in his bag and pulled out another folded piece of paper, which he gave to me. It was an exact copy of Blue's map, and I grinned before stuffing it in my pocket.

"Thanks. That'll come in handy." He smiled and folded up his own map and our food arrived. I kind of destroyed mine, managing to pull it to pieces accidentally and eating it one layer at a time. Blue almost choked on his pasta when I got some smoothie up my nose, and he spent the best part of five minutes getting his breath back. At one point I stole some of his pasta, causing him to steal some of my lasagne and in the end we put our plates together and ate what we wanted off each. I gave him some smoothie and he gave me a sip of his Protein drink. He ended up paying for everything, despite my offer to split the bill. We walked around Cerulean City, taking in the sights and just chatting. As we walked we came across a Bike Shop, and we went in to look at all the bikes. We ended up getting kicked out by the owner because we weren't actually buying something. Mainly because all of his bikes were priced in excess of $1,000,000. We couldn't afford that, even if we combined our money. So off we went, heading to the north this time. We came across a golden bridge, and suddenly Blue turned to me.

"You know what would be cool?"

"What?"

"We should have a battle on a bridge!" I stared at him.

"You mean, you and me have a battle? Like, right now?" He nodded, and I sighed.

"Alright then, sure." He pumped his fist in the air and ran onto the bridge, stopping about ten metres away from me.

"Come on, Fentis! You have to be on the bridge too!"

"Give me a moment!" I walked forwards, stopping when my feet were on the yellow wood. Seriously, it was yellow wood. He grinned, and then pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Go, Spearow!" The Tiny Bird Pokémon appeared in front of him, and it cawed at me. I held out my arm.

"Pikachu! I choose you!" To my surprise he ran along my arm and jumped off my hand like it was a diving board, and did a perfect somersault before landing on the bridge. Blue looked as surprised as I did.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!"

"Spearow, Fury Attack!" Thundershock hit first and knocked Spearow out, and it lay on the bridge and made strange noises. Blue frowned and recalled it, then pulled out another ball.

"Come on, Rattata!" Pikachu and I had developed a technique for attacking Rattatas, which consisted of a Quick Attack to get close before clobbering it with a Rock Smash. It worked like a charm, and Rattata fainted.

"Hmm, you're good. Better than I remember." Blue muttered, and released yet another Pokémon. It was a Sandshrew, which went down to a Rock Smash. We were going great here. Pikachu hadn't even been hit.

"Go, Eevee!" The Pokémon waved at Pikachu, who waved back happily. Despite the constant battles between them, those two were still good friends. A lot like me and Blue.

"Eevee, use Tackle!" It charged, and I grinned.

"Pikachu, use-hey, are you alright?"

Pikachu was crouching on the bridge, sparks flying from his cheeks and he screwed up his face in pain. Eevee stopped coming and stared in confusion and I started forwards, trying to get to him to see what was wrong. Suddenly he leapt into the air, his tail crackling as a ball of electricity formed at the tip and he hurled it towards Eevee, who only just managed to jump out of the way. It collided with the wooden bridge, and both me and Blue gasped when we saw the hole is had made.

"What was that?" Asked Blue, his eyes wide as he stared.

"Uh..." I pulled out my PokéDex, and scanned it again.

"It's called Electro Ball. Cool, when did you learn that?" I asked Pikachu, who shrugged. I smiled.

"Well, I don't really care when you learned it, but I do care how you use it. Electro Ball, again!"

He flung the ball of electrical energy at Eevee, and this time she was too slow to dodge. The force of the impact knocked her back into the bridge's rails, and she shook her head and barked in anger. Blue frowned.

"Alright Eevee, run in zigzags and use Tackle!" And that's just what she did. She charged at Pikachu, changing direction every few steps so it was impossible to aim. When she was almost upon him, I called, "Pikachu, use Quick Attack to dodge!"

He got out of the way just as Eevee hurtled towards him, and leapt onto the rail of the bridge. Eevee looked up at Pikachu, her eyes wide.

"Very well done, Fentis. But you haven't won yet! Eevee, Tackle it again!" Eevee leapt onto the rain as well and charged towards Pikachu, who jumped to the rail on the other side. Eevee followed him, and the two began a strange game of tag. It's a good thing there was no-one else on the bridge at the time, or they would have been in fear of their lives. Eevee eventually caught up to Pikachu and knocked him from his course and back onto the bridge, where he lay while Eevee stared down at him from the rail. Blue grinned.

"Eevee, Tackle one more time!" It leapt from the rail and down at Pikachu, who looked up in horror and cried out in fear.

"Pika!"

"Pikachu, Rock Smash!"

His fist stopped Eevee in mid-air, bopping it right on the noggin and knocking it out cold. As it fell to the bridge Blue sighed and recalled it, then walked over to me.

"Nice one. You only one because of Pikachu's new move, though." Both Pikachu and I glared at him, and he laughed nervously.

"Only joking! You two are great, and you won because you're stronger than me. But, Fentis...have you ever thought about catching Pokémon?" I frowned and tilted my head to one side.

"Of course I have. Why do you ask?" He shrugged and said, "Well, I was thinking maybe you should catch another one for your party. You can't always count on Pikachu, no matter how strong he is. It's always good to have another Pokémon in reserve. Get what I'm saying?" I nodded. He had a point. I'd been too focused on my actual travelling, that I'd been neglecting to look for Pokémon to catch.

"Where can I find a new Pokémon, though?" He grinned at that.

"How about over there?" He pointed across the water, and I had a little look. There was a flat area of tall grass not too far away, and I smiled.

"That looks perfect. Now, how do we get over there?"

"I think we'll have to cross this bridge. Are you prepared?"

"Prepared? For what?" He grinned in a way I decided I definitely didn't like.

"The Nugget Bridge challenge, of course."

We went back to the Pokémon Centre and healed our Pokémon, and then we made our way back to the bridge. Before I stepped onto it I turned to Blue.

"Don't you have to do this challenge thing, too?" He shook his head.

"No, I've already done it. I came here and did it yesterday."

"Oh, goody. So, I have to do it by myself, is that it?" He smirked.

"Pretty much. I'll be waiting on the other side. Good luck!" With that he turned and walked away, and I was by myself. Pikachu nudged my cheek, and I reached up to stroke him.

"Alright, you ready for this?" He nodded and I took a deep breath before stepping forwards. Nothing jumped out at me and I looked around cautiously. Nothing seemed too weird, so I kept on walking. I was about halfway across and nothing had happened, and I frowned. What an anticlimax this turned out to be. I walked past someone wearing a wide hat, and he turned and jumped in front of me. Oh, I should really stop jinxing myself.

"People call this the Nugget Bridge! Beat us five Trainers and win a fabulous prize! I'm number one. Think you've got what it takes?"

He was a bug catcher like Wesley back in Pewter City, and he had a Caterpie, Metapod (its evolution), Weedle and Kakuna (its evolution). Pikachu took care of them pretty quickly with Thundershock and Quick Attack. I carried on to the next Trainer, who was a young girl in what looked like a school uniform.

"I'm second! Now it's serious!" She chanted, throwing out her Poké Ball. It was a small bird, and looked remarkably like Spearow only a bit fatter. The PokéDex told me it was a Pidgey, and it went down to a single Thundershock. She also had an Oddish (a blue bulb thing with leaves on its head) and a Bellsprout (which had a yellow head and leaves for hands). Not too difficult. I carried on to the third Trainer ("Here's number three! It won't be easy!" I liked that because it rhymed) who had a Sandshrew and Ekans. No sweat. The fourth Trainer ("I'm number four! Getting tired?" I wasn't, and neither was Pikachu) was a girl with both male and female Nidoran. They were a little trickier, but still went down easily with a couple of Electro Balls each. The fifth and final Trainer threatened to stomp on me, and had a small thing with brown arms and legs and a piggy nose, which I later discovered was called a Mankey. It went down pretty fast as well with an Electro Ball, and Pikachu learned another new move called Double Team, which looked pretty cool when I tested it out. Finally done with the Nugget Trainers I stepped off the bridge on the other side, and the man standing there smiled at me.

"Congratulations! You've beaten our five contest Trainers! You've just earned a fabulous prize!" He seemed far too happy and shouty, but he still gave me the prize, which turned out to be a golden Nugget. My eyes widened as I stared at it, then he kept talking.

"By the way, how would you like to join Team Rocket? We're a group of professional criminals specializing in Pokémon! Want to join?" I froze and stared at him. He was still smiling, but it faded a little when he noticed my glare.

"What? Don't you want to join?"

"Of course I don't! Team Rocket is evil!" He frowned at me.

"Come on, girlie. You can hardly believe what you see on TV, but we're actually very legal and organized. Plus the pay is good. What do you think? Does it sound good or what?"

"No, it doesn't! Besides, I've never seen or heard of Team Rocket on TV, but I have had an encounter with you guys in my real life!" He blinked, and I saw a bead of sweat run down the side of his nose.

"Oh? And what did you think if us? Pretty cool, huh?"

"Of course not! One of them nearly killed me!" He frowned.

"Well, I doubt that was the fault of the member himself. Did you anger him in any way?" I just glared at him, and he nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want to join? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Come on, I'm asking you to join! No? Well, I see you need convincing. I'll make you an offer you can't refuse!"

He pulled out a Poké Ball and tossed it. Inside was an Ekans, and Pikachu didn't even give it a chance to attack as he took it down with a single Electro Ball. The same fate followed for his Zubat, and he cried out as it also fainted. He got back to his feet as he recalled his fallen Zubat, then he approached me.

"Come on, girlie! Think about this logically. With your skill, you could easily become a top-ranked elite in Team Rocket. Don't let this chance go to waste!"

"I said no!" I shouted, and I swung my fist and it connected rather satisfyingly with his face. His hands flew up to his nose as he fell to the ground, writhing and squirming.

"Fentis? What are you doing?" I turned and saw Blue running towards me, and he took in my angry face and the man on the ground, and put two and two together.

"What on earth did you do?" I blinked.

"I thought that'd be obvious. I punched him in the face."

"Yes, but why?"

"He was trying to get me to join Team Rocket, that's why! He's one of them! He said it was my own fault I almost died!" Blue glanced down at the man, who was trying to crawl away without us noticing. He soon put a stop to that by stomping on his leg, trapping him there.

"Is that true?" He asked coldly. The man whimpered and nodded, and Blue took a deep breath.

"Okay then." The man looked up at him, looking shocked. He thought he was being let off, but he was dead wrong. Blue's foot dug into his stomach and he curled up in a ball, trying to protect himself. He kicked him a few times before deciding he'd been roughed up enough, and then he turned to me.

"Right. Now that that little drama is over, should we keep going?" I nodded and followed him through a small forest, leaving the winded Rocket were he lay. Soon we emerged into a small cape, with a couple of ponds on one side and a house on the other, and a paved path leading to a staircase leading to a hill that overlooked the ocean. There were two people down by one of the ponds, just standing and watching the water with their arms around each other. As we approached the girl saw us, broke away from her boyfriend and waved to us.

"Hi! Are you two here on a date too?" Blue and I froze and glanced at each other, then looked away awkwardly.

"No, we're not." Blue replied, and I detected a hint of sadness in his voice. Hmm, weird. The girl turned to her boyfriend, an awkward look on her face.

"Oh, uh...sorry about that, then. You see, Cerulean Cape is a popular spot for dates, and there's the two of you, so I just assumed..." She trailed off, and I nodded.

"I understand. I take it you two are here on a date?" She nodded and wrapped an arm around her date.

"Yeah, we are. Rob asked me this morning, and I couldn't sit still since! This place is so romantic!" The boy-Rob-blushed while she clung to him, and Blue and I were forgotten. I turned to him.

"So, why are we here?" He shook himself and pointed to the house.

"Because of him."

"Who lives there?" He just grinned at me.

"You'll have to wait and see. Come on!" He dragged me over to the house, and I manage to see the name 'Bill' written on the mailbox before I was pushed inside. The house was pretty messy with paper strewn all over the place, but there was no sign of any people inside. Blue and I exchanged a look and went slowly through the house, poking our heads around doors and checking for any signs of life. We met back up the main room where there were two pod-like things, and a computer.

"Any luck?" He asked. I shook my head. Blue frowned.

"Where could he be?" Suddenly something jumped out at me, and I screamed. Blue whirled around, already having a Poké Ball in his hand, and he frowned.

"What's the matter?"

"Something just jumped on me!" He gave me a weird look.

"I'm serious! Blue, it's on my back!" He walked round behind me and paused, before plucking the thing from my back. I sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank you!"

"Fentis, do you have any idea what it was that jumped you?"

"No, why?"

"Have a look, then." I turned around and saw Blue holding a pink, round Pokémon in his arms. Its legs were short and so were its arms, and it had a tiny pair of wings on its back.

"What's that?" I asked, staring at it curiously.

"It's called a Clefairy. Gramps once told me people think they came from the moon on a meteorite."

"Well, isn't that just wizard." I muttered, feeling ridiculous. I screamed because a Clefairy jumped on my back. Could I be any more embarrassed? Probably not. I glanced up at Blue, who was staring at me with a grin on his face. I felt my own face heat up as I glared at him.

"Don't say anything."

"I wasn't going to."

"I don't care, just don't." He laughed and put down the Clefairy, and it frowned up at him.

"Who do you think you are, young man? You pick me up without even asking? How rude!" It was Blue's turn to scream now, and he hid behind me and peeped out over my shoulder. I rolled my eyes and knelt down to the Clefairy's level.

"And who are you, then?" I asked. It put its hands on its hips-or, where its hips should be-and lifted its chin proudly.

"You can call me Bill! I'm a true-blue Pokémaniac!" I glanced up at Blue and he looked down at me, and we both had the same look on our faces as we stared down at the Clefairy.

"What? What's with the sceptical look? I was just doing an experiment and I got mixed up with a Pokémon, that's all. So, what about it? Will you two help me change back? All you need to do is wait until I'm in the teleporter. When I'm inside, go to my PC and run the Cell Separation System. See? Easy as pie!" With that he tottered off on his short Clefairy legs and went into one of the pod things. Blue and I exchanged another glance, and then I shrugged and went over to the computer I'd seen earlier. The screen was flashing and showing me two boxes; one saying 'cell merger' and the other saying 'cell separator'. I clicked the latter and stood back to watch the teleporter work. A light on the top flashed and something went quickly through the tube connecting it to the other pod, and then the door opened and a man walked out. He had crazy brown hair-crazier even than Blue's, and that's a whole lotta crazy-and wore a wrinkly white shirt and creased pants. He skipped towards us, grinning madly.

"Yeehaw! Thanks a bunch, kids! I owe you one! Oh, here you go! A little thank-you present from your good friend, Bill!"

He gave us some pieces of paper, and we saw the words S.S. Anne written on them. Bill was still grinning at us, and said, "So, did you two kids come to see my rare Pokémon collection?"

My eyes widened. I didn't even know Bill had a rare Pokémon collection. Blue apparently did, and he'd been watching my face to see my reaction. He seemed pretty satisfied, and turned back to Bill.

"Yes, we did. Do you mind showing them to us?" He clapped his hands happily."

"Sure thing, boy! Come over here." He led me and Blue to a desk near the back of the room, where three Poké Balls sat in a box. He held out the box to us and said, "Go on, hold one."

I noticed the way he said 'hold' instead of 'take', and figured he was making sure we knew we couldn't keep them. I reached in and took a Poké Ball, Blue took another and Bill took the last one.

"Alright, on my count you release it, okay? One, two, three!"

* * *

**Yeah, most random end to a chapter ever, I know. I told you earlier that I'm not good at endings, and if I'd ended this chapter where I wanted to it would've been almost double the length of my normal chapters. Oh well, nobody's perfect. Next time...something happens. I'll say no more. And yes, there was a Doctor Who quote/line in there! If you spotted it message me, and I'll put in your OC if you want. I'm not sure how I'm going to do that, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. I don't know when your person will come in, so it might not be for a while. Don't worry if you don't see them for the next few chapters, I haven't forgotten! (I hope). R&R, please! That would make me happy! :D**

**P.S. I'll only do the first two or three if there's more than one. I don't want to make promises I can't keep.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yay for more chapters! Sorry about the reasonably late upload, but I've been playing White 2 basically non-stop ever since I got it two days ago, but I decided it was time for a break and I rushed straight here. The competition-thing is still open from the last chapter if you would like to enter it, and please keep in mind that the more reviews I get, the faster I'll upload. Yeah, I just made that up now, but it still applies in the current situation.**

* * *

I'm guessing he did the counting thing to build the suspense, and he certainly succeeded in that. The three of us threw out our Poké Balls, and they all burst open at the same time. Mine was a red fox-creature with a poofy tail, Blue's was a pointy yellow fox and Bill's was a sleek blue fox with a mermaid's tail. I glanced at them all, and frowned. They seemed familiar somehow, but I couldn't remember when I'd seen one before. Bill smiled and spread his arms wide.

"May I introduce to you; Jolteon, Flareon and Vaporeon!" Suddenly it clicked. These three Pokémon were the evolutions of Eevee. I turned to Blue, who was looking at the three in awe.

"Blue!" I hissed, and he turned to me.

"What?"

"You should release your Eevee." He frowned.

"Why?"

"Just do it." He shrugged and did so, and the smaller Pokémon looked up at the larger ones, her eyes shining. The Eeveelutions all barked a greeting, then the four proceeded to have a heated discussion about something. Bill clapped his hands in delight.

"Cool, you have an Eevee! That's what these three used to be, until they evolved." I pulled out my PokéDex and scanned the three Pokémon. _Flareon, the Flame Pokémon, and the evolved form of Eevee. Inhaled air is carried to its flame sac, heated and exhaled as fire that reaches over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Jolteon, the Lightning Pokémon, and the evolved form of Eevee. By storing electricity in its body, it can shoot its bristle-like fur like a barrage of missiles. Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokémon, and the evolved form of Eevee. Its cell composition is similar to water molecules. As a result, it can't be seen when it melts away into water. _Now _that _was cool. The three of us watched them talk with Eevee, presumably trying to persuade her to evolve into their species. They were all so pushy. We stayed there for about an hour chatting with Bill about various Pokémon, and then we decided it was time we left. Bill and the Eeveelutions waved and barked goodbye as we went back through the forest, but Blue grabbed my arm when I was about to cross the bridge. I stared at him, confused.

"Something wrong?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No, but weren't you going to catch your next Pokémon over here? Don't tell me you'd forgotten!"

I had. Blue shook his head and grinned at the sheepish look on my face, and then he led me towards the patch of grass we'd seen from the bridge. It was about knee-high and I waded through it carefully, worried about standing on any wild Pokémon. That wouldn't be too good. Blue stood nearby and crossed his arms, smiling.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

"A Pokémon, of course!" I retorted, turning back to the grass and scouring it for any signs of life. To my surprise, I found nothing.

"Can you see anything, Pikachu?" He frowned and shook his head, and I began walking slowly through the grass, keeping a sharp eye out for anything moving. Suddenly I saw something and I froze, my eyes trained on the spot. All I saw was a clump of leaves, but for some reason it got me thinking. I could've sworn I'd seen those leaves before. As soon as I thought that, I dismissed it. It was stupid, thinking I could recognise leaves! But still, something was bugging me, so I stared at them and thought. Just when I was about to give up, I remembered. They were the same kind of leaves on the heads of Oddish! I'd seen them when I was fighting one of the Nugget Trainers on the bridge earlier.

"Pikachu, you see those leaves?"

"Pika!"

"Good. I want you to Quick Attack them as hard as you can, alright?" He gave me a strange look but nodded, and I grinned.

"Go!" He leapt off my shoulder and streaked through the grass, a small blur of yellow amongst a forest of green. He headbutted the leaves and went sprawling, but the shock of the attack pulled the Oddish up from under the ground and it ran about frantically.

"Alright! Pikachu, Use Thundershock!"

Oddish "eep!"ed and fell over scrabbling to get back up again and Pikachu slammed into it repeatedly, knocking it back towards the river. The little Pokémon had no idea how close it was to the water, and it took a step back to dodge, but there was nothing under its feet. As I watched in horror it fell backwards into the water and bobbed to the surface, wailing. I raced along the riverbank, Pikachu bounding along beside me as I tried to keep up with the little Pokémon. Suddenly I was flying, and as I looked down I realised I'd run right off the edge of the bank, and was falling towards the river.

I plunged into the water with a splash, kicking for the surface and gasping for air. The water wasn't that cold but the current was strong, and it quickly swept me away from the shore. Through the murky water I managed to catch sight of Oddish not far ahead of me and I swam towards it. It caught sight of me and clambered onto my head when I was near enough, almost pushing me under the water. Suddenly something grabbed my sleeve and tugged at me, and I managed to see through the splashes that it was a Spearow, flapping its wings madly and trying to haul me towards the shore. With on last burst of energy I managed to kick towards the bank, Oddish still on my head and still wailing. Before I touched the bank someone grabbed my arm and pulled me upwards and I flopped on the grass, coughing and shivering.

"Pika? Pikachu?" He shouted, nudging my cheek with his nose. I opened one eye and smiled, reaching up an arm to scratch between his ears. Something was thrown on top of me and I stood up on my elbows to glance back at it. It was a black jacket, which it took me a few seconds to realise was Blue's. He was crouching beside me, looking concerned. I swear, he couldn't be more like my mother if he tried. I barely recognised him without it on, and I tried to get to my feet.

"Woah, take it easy." He said, grabbing my arm to steady me as I stumbled sideways. I grinned up at him, and he sighed. I must look awful. This journey was a lot more dangerous than I'd originally thought it'd be. After all, I'd nearly died twice in as many days, if you don't count the one where I was out cold. Suddenly I whirled around, realising something was missing.

"Where's Oddish? Is it alright?" Blue just rolled his eyes and pointed down at the ground.

"Yeah, she's fine. Just a little tired, I think." I sighed in relief and knelt down beside the Oddish, who looked up at me tiredly.

"Hi. Are you alright? Sorry about that. I didn't mean to." She blinked at me, then jumped to her feet and ran at me, burying her face in my wet clothes and shouting something I couldn't understand. Pikachu's face brightened and he turned to me.

"Pika, Pikachu!" He cried, and I tilted my head to one side.

"Sorry, what?" Oddish pulled her head back and stared at me.

"Oddish! Oddish, odd!" She said, and I nodded in understanding.

"You want to come with me?" She nodded, the wet leaves on her head spraying water everywhere. I was already soaked, so I didn't really care. I smiled and took one of the Poké Balls from my belt (those clips are quality, man) and pressed the button on it. Oddish disappeared inside, smiling giddily and the ball shook a few times before making a _ding _noise. I stared at the ball for a few seconds and Blue petted my arm gently.

"Congratulations." I turned to him, an exasperated look on my face.

"If all Pokémon are as hard to catch as her, I think I'll stick with what I've got." He laughed.

"But that's what makes it challenging. This journey isn't supposed to be easy, you know."

"Yeah, but I expected it to be slightly less...life threatening, if you know what I mean."

"I do. I've been on my journey for about the same time as you, but I've been perfectly safe. Maybe it's just something to do with you personally." I frowned at him, and he laughed nervously.

"Uh...what I mean is, maybe you just attract trouble. It might be like a luck-of-the-draw kinda thing, you know?" I nodded.

"Yeah. I guess Red was the lucky one of the family, and I'm the one who'd probably burn down a building with a teaspoon of spit and a toothpick." He grinned and led me away from the water and back into town. I was surprised to see we'd come quite a long way from where I'd gone in, and that I'd actually been carried right past the Cerulean Cave on my little adventure. We went back to the Pokémon Centre, and Nurse Joy's eyes widened at the sight of my bedraggled state.

"Oh my! What happened to you?"

Blue explained what'd happened while I stood nearby and shivered. The cold was starting to affect me, and I sneezed several times before I was led away. The Chansey gave me a change of clothes to put on while my own soggy ones were washed and dried, and I wandered around the Pokémon Centre while I waited. Blue found me by a shelf of magazines and we sat down on a sofa while I read. I'd taken Pikachu and Oddish to get healed as well, and when they returned Pikachu jumped on me happily. Oddish walked over to me and sat on my lap, seeming content to just sit there and watch what went on. It was getting late by the time my clothes came back, and I was almost falling asleep on Blue's shoulder. Blue booked a room for us when Chansey returned my clothes, and then he guided me into the room. There were two beds with a table in the middle, and I put Pikachu and Oddish on my one before going to have a shower. When I came back out Blue was standing in front of the window, a thoughtful look on his face.

"What's up?" I asked, sitting on my bed and towel-drying my hair. He turned to me, a strange look on his face.

"Where are you going to go tomorrow?" I frowned and whipped my hair back, slapping my back and wincing.

"Probably the Gym, then I can keep on going to the next city...whatever that may be." He leant against the windowsill and crossed his arms, staring at me.

"The nearest city is Saffron, so how about there?" I shrugged, throwing the towel in the bathroom.

"Sure, sounds good." He nodded and sat down on his bed, stroking his Eevee.

"I really was worried earlier, you know." I glanced at him, but he didn't look up, instead scratching Eevee's ears.

"I know. So was I. I've come close to death twice in as many days, so I think I'll be extra careful from now on. These guys will help me if something happens, right?" Oddish and Pikachu nodded, Oddish tickling my chin with her leaves and Pikachu hugging my arm. Blue smiled softly and turned back to look out the window, his brown eyes shining.

"Yeah, I shouldn't worry, but I can't help it. You're like my best friend, you know?" I frowned.

"What about Green and Daisy? Aren't you close to them?"

"Not really. We associate, but we're not overly friendly. Despite the fact we're twins, Green and I couldn't be more different." I was silent. I'd always been close to Red, and we'd never even been truly angry at each other before. I'd always thought that because there were more of them living in the Oak household, they must be great friends. I see now that that wasn't the case at all. I looked up as Blue kept on talking.

"Oh, I don't really mind, to be perfectly honest. I don't mind being alone." When I didn't say anything he looked up, and blinked when he saw how sad I looked.

"What's up?"

"How can you be fine about that? I mean, they're your family!" He shrugged and went back to stroking Eevee, a little harder than necessary.

"I dunno, I was born with it, so I'm used to it. Green was always the favourite with Gramps and everyone loved Daisy. I think everyone else just forgot about me."

"I didn't." I said instantly. He smiled at me and nodded.

"I know you didn't. You were the only one who ever paid any attention to me."

"You were interesting. I loved the jokes you made about Red. They always made me laugh." He chuckled.

"Yeah, well, he's just really easy to make fun of." I laughed and he smiled, and then glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 8:04.

"Think now would be a good time to hit the hay?" He asked.

"Sure. Then I can get to the Gym nice and early." He grinned.

"Oh, I somehow doubt that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He ignored me and lay down in bed, cuddling Eevee close to his chest. I pouted and crossed my arms.

"Aww, Blue! That's not cool!"

"Good night, Fentis." I frowned and flopped onto my side, pulling the blankets up to my chin and hugging my Pokémon.

"Good night, meanie Blue." He just chuckled.

* * *

Amazingly, he was right. I swear, he must have the power of foreshadowing or something. I was fast asleep, minding my own business when something began tickling my nose.

"Ah...ah...ACHOOO!" I sneezed, shocking myself out of sleep and looking around with my eyes half open. Oddish was standing in front of me, looking very displeased at being sneezed on. I laughed nervously.

"Hahaha...sorry, girl." I stroked her leaves and she smiled, then she turned and pointed at something.

"Odd! Oddish, odd!"

"Huh? Are you pointing at the clock?" She nodded and I stared at it again.

"Uh, let's see...there's a nine...and a six...six to nine? No, wait...half past nine. Yeah, that's right. Wait, what? Half past nine? Holy crap, I'm late!" I leapt out of bed and hurried to pack my things, grabbed Oddish and Pikachu and shoved them on my shoulders before I raced from the room. Wait, where the hell did Blue go? I looked around for him, and frowned when I saw him sitting on the sofa, drinking a coffee from one of those cardboard cups with lids. He looked up as I approached and held up another cup, and I shook my head.

"Sorry, I don't like coffee."

"I know, that's why I got you a hot chocolate." I pounced on it and took a tentative sip. It was a little hot, but it was definitely hot chocolate. I grinned and took another drink, and Blue stood up.

"Right, should we get going?" I shot him an exasperated look.

"Seriously? I just woke up!" He just grinned at me.

"Exactly. A Gym battle should wake you up." I frowned as I followed him out of the Pokémon Centre, and I was still frowning by the time we reached the Gym. It was large and blue, and he held the door open for me. I looked around curiously as I entered, and my eyes widened.

"Wow." Was all I said. There was a swimming pool taking up most of the floor space, with piles of inner tubes all over the place and I even caught sight of a few diving boards. It didn't take a genius to figure out what kind of Gym this was. As I stood there Blue smirked and pushed me forwards and I almost fell into the pool.

"Hey! I've already had one soaking! I don't need another!" He rolled his eyes at me and said, "Are you going to battle the Leader or not?"

"Of course I am!" I said, frowning at him again. He seemed unaffected.

"Then by all means, get moving! We haven't got all day, you know." I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, do you have somewhere to be?" He shrugged.

"I would like to be in the next city by tonight, so I'd rather we got this over with quickly."

"Fine!" I shouted, stomping forwards gloomily. He simply sighed and followed me. I stood at the edge of the pool, not entirely sure of where to go and one of the little kids in the pool waved at me.

"Hi, lady! Are you here for a swim?" I shook my head.

"No, actually. I'm here for a Gym battle. Is your Leader in?"

"Hehehe! Of course she is! She's almost always here. Should I get her for you?"

"If it's not too much trouble." She simply grinned and swum across the pool, hauled herself out and scuttled up a steep staircase to a lifeguard station. She reappeared a moment later and gestured for me to join her, and I frowned at the water.

"How am I supposed to cross that?"

"You could always swim." Blue suggested, not very helpfully. I frowned at him and he smiled nervously.

"Only joking, of course. Well, you could go around."

So that's what I did. It was harder than it sounded, and I had to edge my way around teetering stacks of inflatable tubes and kickboards and various other water related things. I lost my footing more than once but Blue managed to grab me before I fell, and I was soon holding his arm tightly as I went. If I was going down, he was going with me. It was hardly fair for me to get soaked twice in two days, was it? I managed to make it around the pool without trouble and I walked towards the stairs, and then I stared at them. Blue shot me a look.

"What is it?"

"Am I supposed to go up them?"

"What else would you do with stairs?"

"You, just...shut up." I finished lamely, pointing a finger in his face and jabbing it into his nose several times. He swatted my hand away, and then pointed to the platform above our heads.

"Just hurry up and go up there, would you?"

I glanced up at the stairs before I began my ascent. They were steeper than I had originally thought, and they were wet as well. I slipped more than once so I gripped the rails with white knuckles, and I eventually reached the top. The wall in front of me was a huge window, opening out onto the river behind the Gym. I stared at that for a moment, then someone cleared their throat.

"Ahem. Are you here to battle me, or admire the scenery?" The speaker was a ginger-haired girl. She wore a blue one-piece swimsuit with an equally blue jacket on overtop, and she wore flip-flops as well. I tilted my head to one side.

"Assuming you're the Gym Leader, then I am indeed here to battle you." She grinned and held out her hand.

"Hi, then. My name's Misty, and yes, I am the Cerulean City Gym Leader."

"My name's Fentis." I shook her hand, and she put her hands on her hips.

"Alright then, Fentis. Are you ready to get started?"

"Sure. No time like the present, if you ask me."

"Touché. If you'd like to follow me, I'll take you to the battle arena." She descended the stairs and I followed, spending most of my time trying not to slip and break my neck or something embarrassing. I'd proven myself to be quite accident prone. Misty nodded to Blue, who was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and he walked beside me as we made our way out the back of the Gym. She glanced over her shoulder as she said, "You again? What was your name again...Pink?" He frowned.

"Actually, it's Blue." She waved her hand around.

"Yeah, I knew that. I was close, anyway."

"No, you weren't. Pink is no way similar to Blue."

"They're both colours. I was in the right ball park, so to speak. Ah, here we are!" She led us through a door, and my eyes widened. The back of the Gym was hanging over the river, which was about a metre below my feet. I stared down at it through the glass floor, and I grinned as a school of Goldeen swam underneath me. It was quite an eerie sensation. Misty had continued walking, and turned to me when she was on the other side of the pool with floating platforms of various shapes and sizes.

"Alright, does two Pokémon each suit you?" I glanced at my two Pokémon, and they both glared determinedly at me. I nodded to Misty.

"It's fine with me."

"Good. Well, let's get this show on the road, shall we? Staryu, I choose you!" The Poké Ball burst open and a Pokémon appeared, though it didn't really look like one. I didn't really know what it looked like, actually. It vaguely resembled a star, and it had a glowing red centre. It disappeared beneath the surface of the water and reappeared on the other side of the pool, making weird noises. It was fast, I'll give it that.

"Oddish, do you want a turn?" She nodded and leapt onto one of the floating islands, this one shaped like a six-pointed star. Misty smirked.

"Alright then, Staryu! Use Tackle!" The star disappeared under the water and shot towards Oddish, leaping out and hurtling towards her at an alarming rate.

"Oddish, dodge it! Quickly!" She leapt to another platform, almost missing and falling into the water. Staryu collided with the now unoccupied platform, before ducking back under the water. Oddish looked around, trying to see where it was. While there wasn't much happening I pulled out my PokéDex, realizing right at that moment that I had no idea what moves she knew.

"Alrighty then, let's see...Absorb, Acid, Poisonpowder, and Sleep Powder. Not too bad, not bad at all."

"Fentis, keep your eyes on the battle!" Blue shouted from where he stood on the sidelines. I glanced up at the field just in time to see Staryu hop out of the water and aim again for Oddish.

"Use Sleep Powder!" I shouted. She rustled her leaves for a bit and specks of glowing green powder floated out and fell onto Staryu, and the Pokémon fell short of the platform and splashed back down. It floated on the surface, making sounds that sounded like snores. I nodded.

"Good one! Now use Absorb!" She closed her eyes and concentrated, and little green specks flew off of Staryu and raced towards her. She absorbed them into her leaves, and Misty cried out in dismay.

"No! Not yet! Staryu, wake up!" A second later the Pokémon stirred, and when it realized what was happening it disappeared underwater. Oddish's concentration broke and she opened her eyes, looking around in confusion. I looked around as well, and my eyes widened when Misty shouted, "Water Pulse, go!"

"Keep a sharp eye out, Oddish!" I ordered, and she nodded and swept her beady little eyes over the battlefield. Suddenly the platform beneath her feet moved, and she looked down just as it was blown into the air by a column of water. When the geyser settled down the small piece of wood thudded back down, and Oddish began to fall as well.

"Oddish! Oddish!" She cried, her eyes wide as she fell beneath the surface. Her head reappeared a moment later, and she began to propel herself through the water towards the nearest land.

"Tackle!" Staryu intercepted her and knocked her right out of the water, almost out of the pool as she vanished beneath the surface for a second time. I frowned and racked my brains, trying to think of something to do when I caught sight of Blue. He was staring intently at the field, his eyes tracing something moving below the water. Could he see Staryu from where he stood? Could I see it from where I stood? I concentrated and studied the water, ignoring Oddish struggling to get onto a platform as I watched. Suddenly I saw something move towards her, and my eyes fixed on it.

"Oddish, get back!" I shouted. She obeyed me without question, kicking off from the side of the platform and watching in shock as it was blown into the air. Staryu appeared beneath it, preparing a Water Pulse right to Oddish's face.

"Oddish, Acid!" She horked up a pile of goo and spat it right into Staryu's centre, and it struggled to get it off. It was a sticky sort of goo, and wouldn't come off in the water.

"Eww." Blue commented, but I ignored him.

"Alright, now use Absorb!" She began absorbing energy from Staryu again, but this time Misty was prepared.

"Staryu, use Recover!" My eyes widened in horror as Staryu glowed white, then whizzed all around the pool. It was completely healed again. Oddish's damp head-leaves drooped as she realised she'd have to whittle it down all over again. To tell the truth, I wasn't sure myself how much longer she could last out there. Misty grinned when she saw the dismay on my face.

"You alright over there? Weren't expecting that, now were you?"

"No, I can honestly say I did not expect that." I replied truthfully. Oddish managed to haul herself onto a platform shaped like a triangle, and she shook water from her leaves. She didn't look very happy.

"Alright then, Oddish. Time to change our tactic, I think. Use Poisonpowder!" Purple spores floated from her leaves and flew towards Staryu, but it ducked under the water and they simply fell to the surface. Where they landed the water began to turn purple, and I suddenly had an idea. A bit of a risky idea, but it was the only one I had.

"Oddish, use Poisonpowder on the water!" She looked at me in confusion but nodded, and spun around. The purple spores drifted into every corner of the pool, staining it until all of the water was an inky purple. Misty's eyes widened in horror as she took in the scene.

"What have you done?" I grinned.

"Weren't expecting _that, _now were you?" She gritted her teeth and shouted, "Staryu, get out of the water!" It was a bit of a delayed reaction, but the Pokémon eventually managed to flop itself out and onto a platform that looked a bit like a splodge of something. It didn't look very healthy, what with being covered in poisoned purple water. It made a few weak noises before hauling itself upright, onto what I assumed were its feet. I hadn't thought this thing even had feet. Oh well.

"Oddish, use Absorb before it heals itself!" She began absorbing all of the Pokémon's remaining energy, and Staryu was too weak to do anything about it. After a minute or so it fell forwards, and didn't get back up. Misty frowned and recalled Staryu, then grabbed another Poké Ball from her pocket.

"You think that was my ace? Oh no, I've got another trick up my sleeve! It's time for my trump card! Go, Starmie!" This Pokémon looked an awful lot like Staryu except for the fact it was purple and had many more points. I pulled out my PokéDex again and scanned it. _Starmie, the Mysterious Pokémon, and the evolved form of Staryu. Its core shines in many colours and sends radio signals into space to communicate with something. _Spooky. I glanced up and saw it standing on two of its points on a platform, unmoving. I shrugged and turned to Oddish.

"Can you keep going?" She nodded determinedly, glaring at Starmie with all her might. She was a new edition to my team, but she was already so well trained. I grinned.

"Alright, Absorb!"

"Counter with Rapid Spin!" Starmie began spinning around and around in circles very quickly, and it blew all of the green specks away from it. I frowned, and I heard Blue gasp. He'd obviously never seen her use this strategy before.

"Now use Swift!" It didn't stop spinning as the stars flew from its centre, heading straight for Oddish on her little island in the middle of the polluted pool.

"Dodge it, Oddish!" I shouted. She jumped to the next platform and landed with both feet well away from the water's edge, but to my horror the swirling stars followed her and hit her from behind. She fell forwards, and didn't get up.

"Oddish? Are you alright?" No response. I frowned and held up her Poké Ball, and returned her in a flash of red light. She was such a trooper. I turned to Pikachu, who was looking uncertain.

"Are you ready?" He stared at me, but still nodded.

"I know you're scared. Hell, I'm scared too. But we've come too far to give up, understand?" He nodded again, looking more confident now. I held out my arm, pointing towards the field.

"Good. Now get out there, and win this thing!" Again he used my arm like a diving board, executing a perfect swan dive onto the platform where Oddish had fallen. He wobbled a bit as it rocked under his weight, and then he regained his balance and turned to Starmie. The Pokémon hadn't moved at all. It was a strange one, that's for sure.

"Alright, let's get started. Pikachu, Thundershock!"

"Counter with Rapid Spin!" The Pokémon spun around again, and the electricity was deflected down into the water, spreading out and threatening to zap everything. Misty frowned.

"Why do you have to keep tainting my Gym? Not only have you poisoned it, you've had to go and electrocute it as well!" I just shrugged.

"What can I say? It keeps people on their toes, right? Now Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

He leapt from platform to platform, making sure to keep his tail well clear of the polluted, electrocuted water.

"Starmie, dodge it." It leant to the right and Pikachu hurtled right past, only just managing to stop himself before sliding into the water. I frowned. This was just getting annoying.

"Okay, I've almost had it with this place. Pikachu, finish it with Electro Ball! Aim for the glowing centre bit! Just pretend it's a target." He nodded and leapt into the air, the ball forming on the tip of his tail and he flicked it towards Starmie. It struck right in the middle of the red gem at its core, and the Pokémon fell backwards into the water. Pikachu had just begun his descent back onto the land when Misty grinned devilishly.

"Good one, Starmie! Now, move the platform!" The Pokémon reappeared through the gloomy surface and it began to push the platform out of the way, until Pikachu was simply suspended above the sparking water. His eyes widened in horror and he turned to me, but there was nothing I could think of that might stop the inevitable. He went under, and I turned when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Blue was looking at the battlefield, a horrified look on his face as he stared into the inky liquid filling the vast pool. There was no way we could see anything inside it, and he stared straight at me. I just blinked, and he nodded, understanding. I didn't like what had just happened, but there was no way I could've stopped it. Misty smirked and rested her hands on her hips.

"Right, I think we're almost done here. In a few more seconds, this battle will be over." I stared at her, and then I smiled.

"I wouldn't count my chickens before they hatch, Misty." She frowned and Blue stared at me, each as confused as the other. It was all so funny, I had to laugh. It was a while before I calmed down, and I pointed at the water.

"Aren't you wondering why I had Pikachu use Thundershock? It was never meant to attack Starmie, but to give us an extra source of electricity should we need it. It's a good thing I thought ahead to this battle, because we do need it. And Pikachu knows exactly how to use it. Don't you, you lovely boy?"

They both stared in confusion, and then their eyes widened as the water began crackling. The electricity was being pulled towards one point under the water, and as we all watched that 'point' appeared, covered in gooey purple muck but still smiling.

"Pika! Pikachu!"

"Yes, you amazing creature. You did everything perfectly. Now, shall we put on a show for the nice people?" He nodded and shot forwards, propelled by the excess electricity in his body so he was shooting forwards like a rocket.

"Starmie, move!" Cried Misty, and the Pokémon ducked back under the water and swam away. I shrugged.

"That doesn't really help you at all. Pikachu, do your thing!" He was racing all around the pool, hopping fro platform to platform until he came to rest on the one he fancied. Ironically enough, that one was shaped like a lightning bolt. Oh, Pikachu. He must've caught my love for drama. He stood there, his fur crackling and standing on end as he concentrated.

"Pika...CHUUUU!" The power was released, all flowing into the water and honing in on the creature somewhere down below. The whole pool lit up with the force of it and Starmie floated up to the surface, unconscious. For a moment everything was silent, until a small voice said, "...Bloody hell, Fentis. You do realize that if that hadn't worked, you could've killed all of us?" I shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess that thought did cross my mind. But you're forgetting what's most important here." Blue frowned.

"And what may that be?" I grinned at him.

"It _did _work." He sighed and shook his head, but he was smiling.

"Pika! Pikachu!" I turned as the little bundle of energy bounded towards me, but I stopped him when he tried to climb up for a hug.

"Sorry, but no." He gave me a sad, confused look, and I elaborated further.

"If you hadn't forgotten, you're currently covered in poisonous stuff, and you're still sparking from all that electricity. We'll go to the Pokémon Centre, get you cleaned up and _then _I'll give you one massive hug, okay?"

"Pika!" He cried, smiling happily. I nodded.

"Yep. Our win today was all thanks to you and Oddish. Nice job!"

"Yes, that was a very nice job!" I turned as Misty walked towards me, looking a little shaky.

"That was a strategy I'd never seen used before. You turned our advantage against us by poisoning the water, and then turned it into one of your own by storing the power you needed to pull off that last trick. I'm very impressed!"

"Thanks, Misty." Blue joined us, his face white as a sheet. She grinned at him.

"See? That's how you win a Gym battle. You could learn a thing or two from your girlfriend there, you know." He blushed and shook his head madly.

"She's not my girlfriend!" There was a moment of silence, and then both me and Misty cracked up laughing. Blue looked from one to the other and back, frowning.

"What? What's so funny?" That only made us laugh harder. He sighed and shook his head, muttering, "Girls..." under his breath. It took us a while to calm back down, and Misty was still giggling when she gave me my badge.

"Here you...hehehe...go, the Cascade Badge! Hehehe..." It was shaped like a raindrop, and I clenched it between my teeth as I rooted around for my Badge case. I had to try hard not to inhale it, as that would hurt and I could die. I'm not too fond of choking to death. I managed to unearth my Badge case and clicked it open, and I placed the Cascade Badge next to the Boulder Badge from Pewter City. Misty glanced down at my Badges, and she nodded in approval.

"At least I wasn't the first Leader you beat. That would've been humiliating. Well, do you know where you're going to go for your next Gym badge?" I glanced at Blue.

"We decided on Saffron City. It is the closest, after all." She raised an eyebrow.

"'We'? Are you sure you're not together?"

"Completely." Blue said quickly, not meeting my eye. He was such an odd child. Misty grinned and shrugged.

"As you keep insisting, but I don't buy it. There's some sort of chemistry between the two of you; I can practically smell it!" We both shot her strange looks, and she blushed and waved sheepishly.

"Well, good luck on your journeys! If you don't mind, I have a pool to clean." She shot a glare at me, and I rolled my eyes and walked away, Blue following along behind.

* * *

**So, that's that. I have no idea if what Fentis did with poisoning the water and storing electricity in it would actually work or not (and to be frank, I don't really care either) but it seemed cool so I'm sticking with it. After this I'll be returning to one upload a week most likely, as I am back to school soon and I have a feeling I'm going to be incredibly behind in most subjects and I have exams. YAY! (NAHT). R&R please, message me with any queries and all that jazz.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the slight delay with uploading, people. I was busy with school and I was writing other things I rediscovered I had on my computer and I started new things and etc etc etc. I severely dislike homework :( Well, here's the next chapter for you, a little later that normal but meh. At least it's here, right?**

* * *

"Well, shall we away?" I asked, turning to Blue as we stood around. There was nothing to do around here. He looked around for a moment, as though something entertaining was about to jump out at him, and then he sighed.

"Alright, let's go." I grinned as we walked through the city. It was quite a peaceful place, and I found myself relaxing just by breathing the air here. Well, that was up until we heard the crashes. And the shouts. Forget what I said about being peaceful. Blue and I took off, running down the street until we reached the source of the commotion. There was a policewoman standing in front of a normal-looking house, and we approached her cautiously.

"What's going on here?" I asked. She frowned at me.

"No need to worry yourselves, kids. The situation is under control. Please vacate the area to allow the officers room to conduct their investigations. Thank you for your co-oper-"

"Stop! Thief! Vandal! Get back here this instant!" The policewoman whirled around and pulled the door open, disappearing inside quickly. I didn't hesitate before pulling Blue in after me, and I froze. The place was a mess; plants knocked over, broken furniture, smashed glass, and not to mention the giant hole in the back wall. I blinked, taking it all in.

"Woah." The policewoman raced over to a man sitting amongst the wreckage, an angry look on his face.

"Sir, are you alright? Has something happened?"

"You bet something's happened! The man who trashed my house just stole my Technical Machine! It's one of a kind! There isn't another like it in Kanto!"

That was all I needed to hear. I left Blue inside and leapt through the hole in the wall, almost hitting my head on the crumbling bricks before I emerged outside. There was a black-clad man in the garden, holding a small thing in his hand.

"Oi! Give that back right now!" I screeched, making him almost jump out of his skin and whirl around to face me. I recognized the red R on his uniform immediately, and my face darkened.

"Who do you think you are, kid? You're in way over your head, I'll tell you that." I snorted.

"Yeah..._right._" I said sarcastically, and the Rocket frowned at me.

"What, don't you believe me? I'll have to convince you that Team Rocket isn't easy to meddle with!" He pulled out a Poké Ball and hurled it into the air, and a small blue Pokémon materialized in front of me. I backed away and pulled out my PokéDex as it flexed its arms. _Machop, the Superpower Pokémon. Although small in stature, it is powerful enough to heft and throw a number of Geodude at once. _Uh oh. I glanced up, and the Rocket was grinning at me.

"What's wrong, girl? Where's all your bravado of before gone?" I frowned and pulled out Oddish's Poké Ball, and released her. She glared at the Machop and stood firmly.

"Absorb!" I cried. The little green specks began floating out of Machop towards her, and it waved its hands around its head in confusion.

"Calm down Machop! Use Karate Chop!" Ordered the man, and he shook his head before leaping towards Oddish with his hand held behind his head, ready to strike.

"Dodge it!" She leapt out of the way as Machop's hand came slicing through the air, making a rather large depression in the green lawn.

"Acid!" I shouted, and she spat out another purple blob adn hit Machop dead on, right in the face. The Pokémon cried out in shock and pain as it fell, writhing, to the ground. The Rocket could do nothing as it lost consciousness, and he recalled it angrily.

"Stupid kid...just got lucky...alright then, time to get serious! Go, Drowzee!" His next Pokémon was a little yellow-and-brown humanoid...thing. It had a small trunk and was waving its hands around. I blinked at it and Oddish gave it a weird look as well, and I pulled out my PokéDex. _Drowzee, the Hypnosis Pokémon. It can tell what people are dreaming by sniffing with its big nose. It loves fun dreams. _Okay then...that was totally normal. The man smirked.

"Drowzee, use Hypnosis!" It waved its hands around again, this time faster and its eyes began to glow purple at the same time. Oddish began to sway on her feet, and I frowned.

"Oddish? What's happening?"

"Odd...Oddish..." She moaned weakly before falling onto her side and going to sleep. I facepalmed. So much for that, then.

"Pikachu, you ready?"

"Pika! Pikachu!"

"Good. Out you go!" I quickly scooped Oddish out of the way as Pikachu faced off against Drowzee, growling threateningly. The man laughed.

"Face it, kid. This battle is as good as over! Drowzee, Hypnosis again!"

"Pikachu, Quick Attack! Get behind it!" I had no idea if my idea would work, but it seemed to. Pikachu dashed around to stand behind Drowzee while the Pokémon fired off its Hypnosis in completely the wrong direction. What a silly thing.

"Alright then, I think it's time we got a turn in this. Pikachu, Electro Ball!" Drowzee didn't have enough time to dodge the sphere of electricity, and was blown right back to where its Trainer stood, a mortified look on his face. I caught Pikachu as he leapt at me and hugged him with one arm, and then I turned back to the Rocket. I blinked when I found he was gone. I frowned, looking around, but there was no trace of him. I did a double-take when I saw something shiny beside the base of the fence, and I went over to investigate. There was a small yellow disk on the ground, and I picked it up curiously. Was this the man's Technical Machine? It didn't look like much, I had to admit. I still held onto it as I made my way back inside through the blown-up wall, and Blue came over to me.

"What happened out there? I heard shouting." I shot him a look.

"And you didn't come to help me? What if I'd been in trouble?"

"Were you?"

"No, but that's beside the point. If I had, would you have come to rescue me?"

"Sure, I guess. Depends what kind of trouble you were in."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know, I came and rescued you when you and Oddish almost drowned the other day. That kind of thing I would help you with."

"And what wouldn't you help me with, hmm?"

"..."

"Exactly. By the way, mister, is this your Technical Machine thingy?" I held up the disk, and his eyes widened.

"Yes, that's it! Thank you, girl! You have no idea how much that TM means to me!"

"Uh, you're welcome." I replied, handing it over to him, and he ripped it from my hands and hugged it happily. The policewoman came over, frowning.

"What are you two doing here? I thought I told you to leave."

"Alright, we're going. No need to arrest us." Blue said as he pushed me through the front door, frowning. When we were outside again I returned Oddish to her Poké Ball, and Blue gave me a disapproving look.

"What?"

"Was that really necessary?"

"Was what necessary?"

"That scene back there."

"What scene?" He sighed.

"You know, forget it." He began to walk away, but I followed him doggedly.

"What scene, Blue?"

"Forget I said anything." He sped up, so I was now running to catch up with him. I was too out of breath to continue questioning him, so I let it slide. For now, anyway. We ran through Cerulean City until we reached the river, and we slowed down to follow it south.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" I asked.

"Of course I do. I have a map, after all."

"That means nothing. I have a map, and I don't even know which way I'm supposed to hold it." He grinned.

"I guess that's a fair point. We're going to Saffron City, of course." I frowned, and Pikachu seemed to sigh on my shoulder.

"I _know _that, Blue. But how do we get there?"

"By going down here." I looked around, and saw only a tall, white picket fence separating the city from whatever was beyond. I turned back to Blue, who was looking smug.

"A fence? What are we supposed to do with a fence?"

"Well, we can't go under it, we can't go through it, we can't go around it, so we'll go over it!" I shot him an odd look. And I'd thought that I was the weird one here.

"Blue, you do realise that this fence is quite tall, don't you?"

"I'm not blind, Fentis."

"How are we supposed to get over, then?" He got down on one knee and laced his hands together, staring up at me expectantly. I raised an eyebrow.

"What, are you proposing to me or something?" He blushed and shook his head.

"N-no! I'm offering you a leg-up, if you want it."

"...Oh." I made sure Pikachu was holding on tight before placing my foot on Blue's hands, balancing myself by grabbing his shoulders. He glanced up at me, an awkward look on his face.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

"Alrighty then. Three...two...one...go!" He heaved me into the air with more strength than I knew he possessed, and I scrambled to grab the top of the fence. I managed to haul myself up so I was draped over the top, and I soon found I couldn't breathe in my current situation.

"Blue! I'm stuck!" I wheezed, kicking my legs about uselessly as I tried to flop myself over to the other side. He grabbed my legs and hurled them skyward, so I soon found myself on a parallel slope to the fence. I didn't have much time to register that thought as I fell down onto the other side, landing awkwardly on my head as I scrambled to get to my feet. As soon as I stood up I toppled backwards, and screamed as I realized the ground was further away than it should've been. I landed heavily on my back in a clump of grass and scrabbled to my feet, then turned back to the fence to see Blue calmly sitting on top of it. I glared at him as he grinned in amusement.

"Did you know what was on the other side before you threw me over?" I shouted.

"No, I didn't, actually."

"So, you could've easily just thrown me into the river or a hole or over a cliff or something?" He shrugged.

"I guess so. But you're not thinking about the positives."

"And they are?" I asked, watching as he landed daintily on the ledge before hopping down to join me. Blue shot me a grin.

"It wasn't any of those things, now was it?"

"Why you little...! Get back here!" I shouted, giving chase as he suddenly sprinted away from me, laughing like a school child. I wasn't laughing. I was angry. I saw him look over his shoulder once and catch the look on my face, and then he broke into an even faster run. I grinned as I saw him screech to a halt, windmilling his arms to avoid losing his balance.

"Got you!" I cried, leaping into a perfect tackle and wrapping my arms around his waist, dragging him to the ground. It was only as we were falling that I realized why he'd stopped. I heard Pikachu cry out in horror as we toppled over the edge of the ledge, falling like stones to the neatly clipped grass two metres below us. I landed heavily, my forehead smacking into the dirt rather hard. Pikachu was fine and he nosed my shoulder anxiously, waiting for me to get up.

"You alright?" Asked Blue, sounding breathless. I glanced up to see him lying beside me, my left arm pinned to the ground by his back. He was staring at me in concern, and I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm a little good. Just a bit sore." He untangled himself from my arms and hauled me to my feet, and I gritted my teeth as a sharp pain went shooting up my leg. I'd twisted my ankle. Just my luck. Blue caught me as I almost fell sideways and wrapped one of my arms around his shoulders to steady me, and I made sure to keep my foot off the ground as I looked around. There was a small house about twenty metres away, whose garden I assumed we had fallen into. As I watched the back door burst open and a man rushed out, a horrified look on his face as he ran towards me.

"Oh, are you two alright? That was a nasty fall you had there!" Blue nodded.

"We're fine, mostly." The man frowned and followed his gaze to my foot, and he gasped.

"Oh my! Come inside, both of you. I'll get you something to put on that ankle, my dear." He walked back towards the house, beckoning for us to follow. Blue started to walk after him but I refused to move.

"What's wrong, Fentis? He said he'd get something for your ankle."

"I know, I did hear him. But honestly, Blue, were you never taught about stranger danger? Who knows what he could do to us while we're in there!" He shot me an exasperated look.

"You watch too much TV. He's fine, I can tell. Now come on. That ankle needs seeing to." That was his final word, and he dragged me towards the house. I wasn't happy and I made sure he knew, whining my head off and forcing him to almost carry me into the building. I can be extremely stubborn when I want to be. The man was waiting for us inside and I was ushered into a chair, and I sat there impatiently while he fetched some ice for my swollen ankle. I watched him closely as he tied the icepack to my leg with a strip of cloth, and then he sat down on the sofa opposite me.

"I truly am sorry about that, kids. The wife and I keep saying we need to put a fence up there, but we're too busy with our work down here to get around to ever doing it." Blue shot him a curious look.

"What's your work, mister?" The man grinned, as though he'd been waiting for one of us to ask that question.

"You see, boy, my wife and I own a Pokémon Day Care."

"What's that?" I asked, confused. He grinned wider.

"A Pokémon Day Care is a place where young, inexperienced Trainers can leave their Pokémon so they can go out and learn more about the world, and come back when they're ready to become a Trainer again. Does that sound interesting?" We both nodded. We'd never heard of anything like it before.

"I'm glad you think so. We manage to make a modest living from it, and we both enjoy it as well. It's always good to have a job you enjoy, and then it doesn't really feel like work."

He was rambling a bit now, and Blue and I exchanged a glance. Suddenly a woman burst into the room, and I almost screamed. Her hair was all messy and her clothes were dirty, and she looked in a right state. She looked all around the room before catching sight of us, and stared at the dressing on my foot.

"What happened, Claude?" She asked.

"She fell over the ledge, Elizabeth. Actually, then both did."

"And are they alright? Apart from the ankle?" We both nodded, and the man-Claude-said, "Darling, I was just telling them about our business. They are most intelligent young children, asking all the right questions." I made a face and Blue frowned, but the woman smiled widely.

"Ah, excellent! It's always good to meet an inquisitive mind. My name is Elizabeth, and this is Claude, my husband." They both smiled. I smiled back. These people were perky, that's for sure.

"My name's Fentis, and this is Blue."

"Very nice to meet you both. So, have you travelled far?" I nodded.

"Yes. We're from Pallet Town." Their eyes widened.

"Oh, that is quite far. I take it you're Trainers, then?"

"Yep. This is my Pokémon, Pikachu." He hopped off my shoulder and sat in my lap, grinning at the couple.

"Pikachu!" They smiled happily.

"Ah, such an adorable Pokémon! He looks very well fed, and his fur is so soft!" Cried Elizabeth, stroking his back gently. She turned to Blue.

"And where is your Pokémon, Blue?"

"Right in here." He said, releasing Eevee, Spearow, Sandshrew and Rattata. The adults gasped and Claude scooped Eevee into his arms, staring into her eyes intently. She stared back, looking confused.

"Eevee? Vee?" She asked. The man grinned.

"Lizzie, look at this. A real Eevee!" The woman looked up from where she was sitting surrounded by the rest of Blue's Pokémon and Pikachu.

"When was the last time we saw one of those, dear?" The man frowned in thought.

"At least twenty years ago, I'd say."

"Sounds right to me." I released Oddish as well, deciding that she shouldn't be left out of all the cuddling and playing that was going on. She yawned as she appeared on the floor at my feet, and looked around sleepily.

"I see you're awake now." I said dryly, and she shot me a sheepish look.

"Oddish..."

"It's alright, there's nothing you could've done. It's no-one's fault you fell asleep." She grinned and leapt into Claude's lap, bouncing up and down in excitement. We all played with the Pokémon for a long time, and when we stopped to rest we had a little chat. Blue glanced at Elizabeth, who was stroking Oddish's leaves.

"Do you have any Pokémon here right now?" She nodded.

"Of course. We hardly ever have none at all. It's a little sad, really. Some Trainers abandon their 'weak' Pokémon here and never come back for them. The Pokémon sit and wait for their Trainers almost every day, you know. It's really quite heartbreaking." She sighed sadly, and Claude put his arm around her. Blue and I exchanged a glance.

"Do you have anyone here helping you with the Pokémon?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"No, it's just us. We don't have the money to pay people to work here." I frowned, and from the corner of my eye I saw Blue staring at me. I turned to him and he gave me a questioning look, and I nodded.

"Well then...why don't we work here with you? Without pay, of course. Just until Fentis' ankle heals." The couples' eyes widened.

"Really? You'd really do that?" We both nodded.

"Of course we would! We both love Pokémon, so this won't be much like work at all, right Claude?" I said, winking at the man. He grinned back at me.

"In that case, we'd love to have you here."

"Yay! When do we start?" I cried, and Elizabeth laughed.

"I admire your enthusiasm, dear, but I think we'll get started tomorrow morning. You both look exhausted and it's getting late, so we'll put you up here for the night and organise your duties tomorrow. Sound good?"

"Very." Blue answered, a huge smile on his face. She smiled back.

"Alright then, I'll go and prepare us some dinner and then I think it'll be time for bed."

After dinner-which tasted _amazing_-we were led to our room, and Blue froze in the doorway.

"What is it? Budge up a little, give me some room." I said, hobbling over to peer over his shoulder. My ankle was getting better, and I could walk on it now. Only just, but I was getting there. As soon as I looked into the room, I saw why he'd frozen.

"...Oh." was all I said. Claude gave us a sheepish look.

"I'm sorry kids, but it's the only other bed we've got. We could put you on the sofas for the night, but they're bloody uncomfortable." Blue shook his head.

"No, no, I'm sure we can make this work. Right, Fentis?" All I could do was nod as I followed Blue into the room and sat down on the double bed. He stood awkwardly by the window, looking anywhere but at me.

"So, how are we going to make this work?" I asked. He shrugged, not looking in my direction, but I could feel his blush from where I lay.

"I'll have half, you have half. Sound fair?" I nodded.

"Sure. There isn't really anything else we could do, is there?"

"No, there isn't." He replied, grinning. I put my arms behind my head as I stared at the ceiling, and I wrinkled my nose and sniffed a few times. I needed a shower.

"Help me up, would you? I need to have a shower." Blue made a face but helped me sit up, and watched carefully as I got to my feet and limped out of the room into the bathroom. There were some towels on the vanity that Elizabeth had gotten for us, and I was already washing myself when I realised I hadn't brought anything in for me to change into. I mentally smacked myself before shouting, "BLUE!" It was a few seconds before I heard a response.

"What? Has something happened?" His voice was muffled through the door, and I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, I'm just peachy, but there is a slight problem."

"And that is?" I could practically taste the awkwardness in his voice, and I smirked.

"I forgot to bring in any clothes to wear." There was a long silence.

"Blue? You still there?"

"What do you expect me to do about that?"

"Could you be a dear and get me some clothes from my bag? Please?" The door couldn't block out his groan.

"Why can't Elizabeth do it?"

"You know perfectly well why she can't; she's busy tending to the Pokémon. Just hurry up, would you? It's not like I'm asking you to pull out your eyeballs with a pair of tweezers or something." He sighed.

"Fine. Hang on a moment."

"Oh, wait!"

"What?"

"Don't forget to bring me some underwear as well." I knew he shuddered as he walked away to do my bidding, and I leant against the wall of the shower as I waited for my clothes. Soon there was a knock on the door.

"Alright, I've got them. Now what?"

"Bring them to me, of course." He paused.

"Are you serious?"

"Completely. Now come on."

"I am _not _going in there." I groaned.

"Oh, it's not that bad. Close your eyes if you must. Honestly!"

"Okay, okay, I'll come in. Are you...decent?"

"Just get in here, Blue."

I heard the door open and Blue entered, his eyes shut and a pile of my clothes in his hands as he inched his way into the steamy bathroom. I didn't move, instead relishing his awkwardness as he tried to locate a place to put the clothes. It was when he was almost _in _the shower did I do anything.

"Alright, that's close enough, I think." He jumped back, almost slamming into the sink. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Just put them on the sink behind you, okay? Not _in _the sink, on it." I watched closely as he did so, and grinned as he tried to find his way back to the door again. He eventually made it, closing it behind him and I heard his footsteps walking quickly back into the bedroom. I was still grinning when I left the bathroom a few minutes later, my hair damp and my body nice and clean. When I entered the room I saw Blue curled up on what we'd decided would be his side of the bed, fiddling with his PokéDex. I jumped onto my side, making him jump and he rolled over to glare at me.

"Don't do that." I just grinned.

"Why not? I'm just having a little fun..." He sighed and ran a hand down his face tiredly.

"I know, but I think it's time we got to sleep. There's stuff to do tomorrow, remember?"

"Of course I do. My memory isn't that bad." I replied indignantly, lying down and wriggling under the covers. Blue did the same.

"Yeah, right." He said sarcastically. I whacked him with my pillow.

"Good night, Blue." I said, lying down with my back to him.

"Good night, Fentis."

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**And ta-da! There it is. I just enjoy creating awkward moments between these two, as you've probably figured out already. It is highly entertaining. R&R, please? Anyone who reviews shall get a virtual hug, and I'm not a very huggy person so that is quite an accomplishment.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I am back again! I know, you must be so happy. Sorry for the small delay with uploading, but I had to go out yesterday and socialize. Also, I forgot. I may not be uploading as frequently in the near future as I have exams coming up pretty soon, which I am most definitely NOT looking forward to. But that's enough about me. Let the story comence!**

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I was woken by something tickling my nose, and I scrunched up my face and wriggled around to try and get rid of it. I only found more, and I opened my eyes and glared at it. All I could see was brown; brown, brown, brown. It smelled nice though. I leant back to get a better look, and my eyes widened. It was Blue's hair, which had crept over onto my pillow at some point during the night. His nose was only about a centimetre away from mine, and I felt myself blushing as I stared at his sleeping face. He looked so peaceful I almost wanted to leave him there, but I hardened my resolve and whacked him with my pillow again.

"Huh...? Wha...?" I rolled my eyes.

"Up you get, Blue. Time to wake up." He groaned and lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes.

"What time is it...?" I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Half past nine. Come on, get out of bed. I'm hungry." I bullied him out of the bed and he went into the bathroom to change while I did so under the covers. I may be alone in the room, but you can never be too careful, right? I hopped out of the bed, fully dressed, and I stumbled forwards. Grabbing the door handle for dear life I hobbled into the hallway towards the kitchen. The swelling on my ankle had gone down considerably, but it was now stiff as a board from not moving all night. As I entered the room I was hit with the overpowering smell of bacon, and my mouth watered as I looked around. Blue was sitting at the table with a plate in front of him and Elizabeth was in the kitchen, cooking some more which I assumed was for me. Blue looked up as I entered and said, "Morning, Fentis. How's your ankle today?"

"Sore, but otherwise fine. Is that bacon I smell?" He grinned, nodding.

"Indeed it is. I take it you want some?" I nodded eagerly and he speared a piece on his fork, holding it out to me. As I went to eat it he pulled his hand back and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. I watched in agony as he chewed. I knew he was teasing me.

"Mmm...This tastes _sooo _good. Fentis, you have to try it. I doubt you've ever tasted something as sweet, juicy, crispy..." He trailed off when he saw my expression, and he cracked up laughing. I didn't see what was so funny. I frowned at him.

"That was cruel, Blue."

"I know, but it had to be done. In all seriousness, I'm sure if you go and ask Elizabeth nicely she'll give you some bacon." I looked over at the woman cooking, and saw her grinning.

"Please, Elizabeth? Can you spare some bacon?" She laughed.

"Of course, my girl! Just give it a few more minutes, alright?" I frowned but nodded, sitting across from Blue as I waited for my food, and I was forced to watch him eat. It was torture, and Blue knew it. It wasn't long before I wanted to slap him, but I restrained myself. Barely, but I managed it. Eventually the plate was set down in front of me, and I remembered to thank Elizabeth before I dug in. It was all as good as it had looked; bacon, toast, sausages, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes among any other things, and it was gone far too quickly for me. I sat at the table, staring down at my empty plate sadly. I wanted more, but I knew I'd had more than enough to get me through the day. We took our dishes into the kitchen to wash them, and Elizabeth smiled in thanks before leading us outside into the garden again, where Claude was waiting. There, they explained our duties for the day.

"Ah, good morning kids! I hope you slept well?"

"Like a baby." Blue replied. I was reminded of his sleeping face and couldn't hold back a chuckle, and he looked at me strangely. He _had _looked like a baby.

"Excellent! Well, before we start, you'd better put these on." Elizabeth gave us an apron each and I stared uncertainly at mine. It was cream coloured with a Poké Ball pattern, and a large, deep pocket on the front. I put it on over my head and Elizabeth tied it for me, and then we began our tour. We were led over to a reasonably sized fenced-off area, and we both gasped. Pokémon were running around happily, chasing each other, playing games or relaxing in the shade of tall trees. They were all different colours and sizes, and I hardly recognised any of them. I managed to spy a female Nidoran hiding under a bush and a Geodude playing hide-and-seek with several other Pokémon, and I had to admit that it was pretty good at the game. It did look exactly like a rock, after all. I glanced over at Elizabeth as she cleared her throat.

"These are all of the Pokémon we're raising for their Trainers. Your jobs will be to feed them, and then wash and groom them until they sparkle. Can you do that?" Blue and I both nodded. How hard could it be? She beamed and opened a gate for us to enter the pen, and she gave us small bags of different kinds of foods.

"Different types of Pokémon like different kinds of food, you see. Make sure you give each Pokémon the right kind!" She began to walk off, but Blue stopped her.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"Oh, relax. I'm not going far, and Claude will still be here tending to the garden. Give us a shout if you need anything, alright?" We nodded and she gave us the thumbs up before vanishing back into the house. I glanced down at the different food packets in my arms and looked at Blue. He was frowning.

"Well, should we get started?"

"It's now or never." We shoved the packets into the front pockets of our aprons and walked/hobbled out among the Pokémon, and they stared at us curiously. These Pokémon all belonged to Trainers, so they were used to being around humans. I smiled and knelt down beside a small cream-coloured cat and stroked its back, and it purred in delight.

"Hey there, sweetie. What kind of Pokémon are you?" I asked softly. The cat looked up at me and meowed, "Meowth! Meeoooowww!" I smiled.

"Meowth, is it? My name's Fentis." Meowth purred again and rubbed its face against my hand, weaving between my legs and brushing up against me every chance it got. The other Pokémon inched closer, obviously encouraged by the way Meowth was reacting to my presence. I had an idea and dug around beneath my apron for Oddish and Pikachu's Poké Balls, and the Day Care Pokémon all leapt back as they both appeared. They looked around before staring up at me, confusion in their eyes.

"Pika? Pikachu?"

"Odd?"

"Guys, these Pokémon all belong to Trainers, but they're being raised here for a bit. I'm helping to look after them today. Do you want to help me?" They both nodded, and I smiled. I could always count on them for help. They wove among the other Pokémon, calling out greetings and introducing themselves, and soon all of the Pokémon were barking out their names excitedly. I sat down in the middle of them and patted my lap, Meowth jumping on me almost immediately. The others all crowded around as well and I smiled like crazy, stroking all of the ones within my reach.

"Having fun there?" I squinted up, and saw a silhouette of a person blocking the sun. I quickly recognised him as Blue, standing over me with his hands on his hips and frowning. I couldn't take him seriously in an apron.

"Yes, actually. I'm having a lot of fun." I giggled as Meowth's tail dragged under my chin and tickled my neck, and Blue sighed.

"I thought we were here to work, not to play." I shrugged.

"I am working. I'm just taking the time to get to know my colleagues. You should, too." He grinned.

"No thanks. You can do whatever you like, but I'm going to get straight to work. Don't dither too long. Alright?" I frowned as he walked away, then I shook my head and returned to my new friends. As I sat there I learnt all of their names; Meowth, Pidgey, Rattata, Bellsprout, Sandshrew, Weedle, Caterpie, Nidoran (male and female), Clefairy (which was absolutely adorable), Vulpix (equally adorable), Paras, Poliwag, Doduo, Geodude and Slowpoke. I hadn't realised at first just how many there were, and I found myself having thoughts of drowning amongst a sea of Pokémon as they fought for the food that was concealed upon my person. Remembering that I had a job to do I gently pushed Meowth from my lap and produced the packets of food from my pocket. At once their eyes lit up and they crawled towards me eagerly, but I held up a hand and they stopped.

"Right. I was told that each type of Pokémon has a favourite food, is that correct?" They all nodded.

"Good. Now, I'm going to need your help to figure out whose food is whose, alright?" They nodded again, and I held up the first packet. It was green with leaves on it, and I glanced at Pikachu.

"How do you think we're going to do this?" He thought for a moment, then rushed towards the Pokémon and barked an order. They reacted immediately and formed a straight line, spreading from left to right. Pikachu then pointed at the bag in my hands and called something else, and Caterpie, Weedle, Bellsprout and Paras stepped forwards. I tilted my head to one side.

"So, this is your food?" They nodded and waited expectantly, and suddenly I frowned in uncertainty. How much was I supposed to feed them? Was I supposed to empty the packet? I looked around for Blue and saw him stroking the head of a Bulbasaur, which was looking very happy.

"Hey, Blue!" He looked up at me.

"How much food am I supposed to give each Pokémon?"

"There are instructions on the back of the packet. Honestly, do you not think before you yell for help?" I poked my tongue out at him and glanced at the back of the packet. Sure enough there were specific instructions on how much to give each one, and I grinned to myself before opening it and scooping out a handful. I held it out to the Pokémon and the four Grass/Bug types scuttled over and began to nibble. Pikachu perched on my shoulder and Oddish skipped up and down the line, shouting at any Pokémon that had a single foot out of place. Man, she was bossy. The Pokémon had finished their food and went back to the line, and I put that bag down and held up the next one. It was grey, and Geodude bounded forwards and almost knocked me over. I fed him his required amount and watched him leave before pulling out the next bag. This one was a very pale blue, and Doduo and Pidgey hopped up and ate from my hand. Soon all of the Pokémon had been fed and I got to my feet and stretched the stiffness from my back before hobbling over to Blue, who was sitting with a Growlithe on his lap and stroking it absently. He looked up as I approached.

"So, are you finally finished?"

"Yes, I am. What now?"

"Remember what Elizabeth said? We have to bathe them now."

"Where and how do we do that?" He frowned and shrugged, then looked around.

"Hey, Claude! Come here a sec, would ya?" The man ambled over, a pair of hedge trimmers in his hand.

"Hey there, kids. How goes it?"

"Pretty good. We're done with the feeding, and we're supposed to be washing and grooming them now. Where do we do that?" He nodded and pointed towards a small shed further into the pen and Blue and I both blinked. How come we hadn't noticed that earlier?

"There's a bathtub in there. I suggest one of you does the washing and the other does the drying. It's much easier and more time-efficient that way. Get me?" We nodded and waved as he walked back to the tree he'd been pruning, and we exchanged a long look.

"You're washing." He said after a while, and I frowned.

"Who put you in charge?"

"I'm the eldest. Now come on. We need to get all of these Pokémon into that shed. Won't this be fun?" He said sarcastically, heading off to round them up. I glanced at Pikachu on my shoulder.

"Can you and Oddish get all of the Pokémon to come to the shed for me? I think you'll get it done faster than Blue ever would." He nodded and leapt down to the ground, scampering over to Oddish and explaining what I wanted. She nodded and the two split up, running over to the Day Care Pokémon and shouting at them. I watched them for a bit before walking slowly over to the shed and opening the door. It was rather plain, the only furnishings being the bathtub, a basin and a towel rack loaded with fresh towels. I knelt by the steel tub and turned the water on, measuring the temperature with my finger as the water level rose. When it was warm enough I stopped the water and turned to see a group of Pokémon standing nervously by the door, eyeing the tub in uncertainty. I sighed and looked around for Pikachu, and caught sight of him just as he and Oddish entered before Blue.

"Pikachu, do you think you could take a bath first? Just to show them it's not dangerous or harmful." He nodded and leapt into the tub, splashing me in the process. When he bobbed back to the surface he cowered under my glare but I merely shook my head, grabbed the cloth and began to wash him. The other Pokémon gathered around to watch as he wriggled around, laughing when the cloth tickled his skin. Soon he was done and he took a flying leap at Blue, who managed to catch him in a towel and scrub him dry again. He dropped to the floor and talked briefly to the other Pokémon, pointing at me and Blue. They all nodded but no-one stepped forwards, until one pushed their way through the crowd and made their way towards me. It was Meowth, and I felt a brief pang of panic. Cats _hated _water. I glanced at Blue and he nodded encouragingly, and I gulped before scooping Meowth up and gently lowering him into the water. To my surprise there was no frenzy of claws or enraged yowls, instead he began purring. I blinked in shock for a moment before grabbing the cloth and scrubbing his fur gently, and he never stopped purring the whole time. I plucked him from the water and passed him carefully to Blue, and turned to the next Pokémon.

We were going rather well with the bathing, and only had trouble with a few of them, but it was understandable. Geodude hesitated before climbing into the tub, and wouldn't stop wriggling until I allowed him to get out. Growlithe was another one, but he jumped in when Oddish barked a fierce order at him. All of the others were quite co-operative, and when we were all done I decided I would bathe Oddish and Blue's Pokémon as well, just because I could. They all seemed to enjoy it, and when they were washed and dried they rushed out to play with the Day Care Pokémon. I could hear Oddish shouting something at them, and I sighed and shook my head. I guess someone had to keep everyone in line.

With our duties finished Blue and I mingled with the Pokémon, and discovered we had a few followers. Everywhere we went, Meowth and Growlithe would tag along behind us, purring and barking while bouncing excitedly. Eventually we stopped to pick them up, and Meowth instantly began rubbing his face against mine while Blue got a face full of Growlithe's pink tongue as it licked like there was no tomorrow. We left the pen with them and wandered around the garden, keeping an eye out for Claude or Elizabeth. We found them around the front, talking happily with a group of kids. They all looked up when we approached, and Claude called out, "Ah, kids! You came at just the right time! Come over here!" We walked over, staring at the kids curiously. They were all about my age, and looked a little scared about something. When we arrived Elizabeth said, "Now, would you two mind going with these kids and getting their Pokémon for them? Normally we'd go ourselves, but there's something we have to attend to."

"Sure. Come with us." Blue said, gesturing to the kids and we all walked off around the side of the house. When we reached the pen their eyes widened and one of them said, "Does the Day Care really have to take care of this many Pokémon?"

"Of course. It's their job, after all." I said, scrunching my face up as Meowth decided to stand up in my arms and shove his nose into my eye. Blue just sighed.

"So, which ones are your Pokémon?" He listened while the kids told him, and then he nodded and turned to me.

"Alright then, shall we go?" I nodded and followed him through the gate, which we closed behind us and left the other kids on the outside. I hobbled along, glancing around and repeating the list in my head. _Doduo, Caterpie, Weedle, both Nidoran and Slowpoke. _I found Slowpoke sitting on a rock by a pond, the white tip of his tail in the water. I picked it up and kept going. Soon I caught sight of Doduo and the Nidorans, and I walked along with all of them in tow. I was almost back at the fence when I saw Blue with Caterpie and Weedle, Growlithe running in between his legs with his Eevee. We opened the gate and stepped back out, and the Pokémon we held suddenly went mad, leaping out of our arms towards their respective Trainers. We watched as they hugged and spun around happily, and then we led them back around to the front of the Day Care. Claude was standing there by the road, and he smiled as we all approached.

"Well done, you two! Now, if you kids would like to follow me, we shall discuss your fee." They all followed the man into the building and Blue and I exchanged a glance.

"Now what do we do?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Not sure. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. Let's go for a walk or something."

"What about your ankle?"

"Blue, I only twisted it. I didn't cut it off or something. I can still walk perfectly fine."

"If you say so."

"I do, actually. Now let's go."

We left all of our Pokémon in charge, and I briefly wondered if that was such a good idea. Oddish would probably have them all polishing the flowers or something, knowing her. We walked down the road in front of the Day Care, and passed a sign saying 'Route 5-Saffron City ahead'. We scouted around, to make sure we knew where we were going when we did eventually come back this way. The road was a simple dirt track, and it wasn't long before we reached a building. There was a sign next to it, and Blue went over to read what it said.

"Underground Path 5-6: Cerulean-Vermillion." He read, and then glanced back at me.

"Vermillion? I take it that's a place?" he sighed.

"Haven't you read your map yet? Of course it's a place!" I frowned

"No, I haven't actually. I figure it wasn't necessary, seeing as we won't be going anywhere for the next couple of days or so. Is there anything interesting in Vermillion City?" I watched as he pulled out his trusty map and spread it out on the ground, and I sat down beside him as he examined it.

"We're here." He said, pointing at a small trail heading south from Cerulean City. He moved his finger to hover over a small place on the coast.

"Vermillion City is there." I leant over to take a closer look.

"I assume there's a dock there?"

"Yeah, there is. There's a boat moored there called the S.S. Anne, and-" He stopped mid-sentence, staring at me with wide eyes. We both remembered at the exact same time.

"Bill gave us tickets for that." We said, and grinned.

"Well, it looks like we're going to be going on that in the near future. So, shall we carry on?" I nodded and waited while Blue folded up the map and we walked on. The entrance to the Underground Path was far behind us when we reached another building, this one with a large set of glass double doors. We exchanged a look before pushing them open and wandering in, gazing around. It was quite a small building, with a rug on the floor and desks on either side. There was a man sitting behind one of them, and he looked sleepy. He was murmuring to himself, and as we approached I heard what he was saying.

"Oh...I'm so thirsty..." Suddenly his eyes widened and he sat up straight, fixing Blue and I with a stern look.

"U-uh, you kids! Turn around and go back the way you came, please. The road to Saffron City is closed for maintenance." I frowned.

"Maintenance? You mean repairs?" His face flushed red and he nodded.

"Well, what happened to it?" He opened his mouth to reply but he shook his head firmly.

"Never you mind! Now, off you go! Some people have work to do!" He looked angry, so we decided to leave to avoid working him up any further. When we were back outside Blue sighed.

"Looks like we won't be heading to Saffron City anytime soon, then." I shrugged.

"They might be finished with their repairs before we leave the Day Care. Who knows?"

"I don't. Shall we head back now?" I nodded and we walked quickly back to the Day Care, as fast as my limp would allow. When we got back we paused, looking stunned. The Day Care was a whirlwind of activity, with Pokémon darting every which way and calling loudly. Elizabeth rushed out of the house and beckoned us over, and we went as fast as we could. Even from a distance we could see the panic on her face.

"What's up? Has something happened?" She nodded.

"Yes, oh, it's just awful!"

"What's happened?" I asked, and she turned to me.

"Two of the Pokémon have gone missing!" We both froze.

"Which ones?"

"Growlithe and Meowth. Oh, the poor dears!" Blue grabbed my arm and pulled me aside, whispering fiercely.

"They must've followed us when we went out!" I nodded.

"But we locked the gate! How could they have gotten out of there?" He shrugged and shook his head.

"Never mind how they did it; the issue here is that they _did. _We have to go and find them, now!" We turned back to Elizabeth, who looked on the verge of tears.

"Don't worry Elizabeth, we'll go and find them for you." Before she could say anything we took off, Blue running beside me as I limp-hopped down the path. We hadn't gotten far when we heard a noise behind us, and turned to see all of our Pokémon chasing us. We stopped to let them catch up, and Pikachu leapt into my arms, wailing.

"Pika! Pika Pikachu!" He cried, and I petted his head gently.

"No, Pikachu. It wasn't your fault."

"Oddish?" Said a small voice down by my feet, and I scooped Oddish up off the ground.

"It wasn't yours, either. It was no-one's fault. But we've got to find them, alright?" They both nodded, sniffling. Blue stood up straight with Eevee in his arms and Rattata and Sandshrew by his feet. I frowned.

"Where's Spearow?"

"I asked him to fly over the path, to see if he could spot them from the air." Hmm, good idea. He nodded down at the rest of his Pokémon and they took off down the path, sniffing and tracking every now and then. We ran after them, and were just in time to see Rattata vanish into some trees. We followed him again and fought our way through the forest, keeping our eyes open for the missing Pokémon.

"Rattata! Rat rat!" We heard coming from somewhere up ahead, and pushed our way towards it. We emerged onto the edge of a steep ledge, and Blue grabbed my arm to steady me, as I didn't have the best balance. Rattata was on the very edge, looking down and squeaking in alarm. I crawled beside him and followed his gaze, and my eyes widened. Meowth and Growlithe were perched precariously on a small outcrop, overhanging a raging river that I'd recently taken a dunking in. It was the same river that ran through Cerulean City, but here it was much bigger, deeper and wilder. I shot a glance at Blue, and he was frowning in concern. Neither of us knew what to do, and we looked up when we heard a cawing. Spearow was flapping about above us, and he plunged over the side and hovered next to the trapped Pokémon, cawing at them frantically. Probably assuring them that we were going to save them, but how? Pikachu nudged my hand with his nose, and I stared at him sadly.

"I know, Pikachu. I want to help, but I can't see how I can." He opened his mouth as if to speak, but suddenly something happened. There was a harsh white glow coming from somewhere down on the ledge, and both Blue and I stuck our heads over the edge to look. It was coming from Spearow, and as we watched his wings grew larger, his beak grew longer and he pretty much doubled in size. The glow faded and where Spearow had flow a moment before was a large, regal brown bird. Its wings flapped strongly and it swooped on Meowth and Growlithe, picking them both up at once and flying up to meet us. It landed about a metre away and deposited them on the ground and they rushed towards us, wailing and crying. We comforted them, all the time keeping an eye on the bird, which had begun preening its feathers with its sharp beak. I turned to Blue and saw him staring in fascination, his brown eyes wide as he absently smoothed Growlithe's ruffled fur. For a moment neither of us did anything, and then he jumped and turned to me.

"Don't you think we should be heading back now? Claude and Elizabeth must be worried sick."

"Oh, right. Forgot." We gathered up all of the Pokémon and wandered back to the Day Care, where things had reasonably calmed down. As we approached Elizabeth came hooning out from the back of the house and screeched to a halt in front of us, Claude right beside her.

"Oh, you found them! What a relief! I don't know what we'd have told their Trainers if we'd lost them!" Blue nodded.

"Uh, yeah...about that..." Claude stared at us suspiciously.

"About what, Blue?"

"I think it might be kinda our fault that they went missing..." Silence. Elizabeth looked from Blue to me and back, then crossed her arms and stared at us both sternly.

"Explain. Now."

So we did. We told them about how Growlithe and Meowth had been following us around all day, and how we suspected they'd followed us when we went for our walk. When we finished our little story, they both looked positively...relieved?

"Oh, thank god it was only that. We thought you meant you'd stolen them or something." Claude said, a grin on his face. We both shook our heads emphatically, and Elizabeth spoke up.

"If what you say is true and they were both stuck on the ledge, how did you get them back?" I glanced at Blue and he pulled out the Poké Ball containing the Pokémon that neither of us knew the name of and opened it up. Elizabeth and Claude both stared in shock as the large bird appeared, stretching its wings and opening its beak wide in a yawn. I suddenly ran into the house, into our bedroom, emptied my bag until I found the item I was searching for and ran back out. I scanned the bird with my PokéDex, and Blue wandered over to see what it said. _Fearow, the Beak Pokémon, and the evolved form of Spearow. It has the stamina to fly all day on its broad wings. It fights by using its sharp beak. _Fearow, eh? We all looked up at it and it looked back at us, confused. Blue went over to it and held out his hand and Fearow rested its chin on it, staring up at his Trainer. For a moment they stood like that, and then Blue turned around and grinned at us.

"I think we've had enough excitement for today, don't you think?" I grinned and nodded, stroking Meowth in my arms as we all walked back to the pen and deposited both him and Growlithe inside. All of the other Day Care Pokémon appeared from nowhere and crowded around them, all chattering away at once. Suddenly Fearow cawed loudly, and everything fell silent as the smaller Pokémon caught sight of the giant bird. He cawed again and their faces lit up, and they began jumping around excitedly. I stared at them and turned to Blue, who was smiling as well.

"What's going on?" He chuckled.

"I think Fearow wants to have a party to celebrate the safe return of Meowth and Growlithe." The bird nodded, and the Pokémon all cheered. They seemed to want a party as well. Elizabeth and Claude laughed.

"Well, how can we say no? This is an occasion to be remembered, after all!" We all cheered and she rushed inside to prepare.

* * *

**Partaypartaypartay! I do like me a party. Well, I have nothing mush else to say here. R&R, please? It would make me incredibly happy.**


	9. Chapter 9

**...Wow. It's been about 2 weeks since I last updated. I swear, it wasn't intentional. I've been a little busy as my exams were this week, but I'm free now! :D In commeration of your...patience, I'm giving you an extra-long chapter this time. A bit of a warning though; This is as far as I've gotten writing on paper, so everything I come up with from now on will be totally impromptu. That's enough from me. Let the story commence!**

**Disclaimer: See first chapter (I don't know if I keep having to do this, but I just realized I haven't done any since I started. Better safe than sorry, right?)**

* * *

"Woohoo! This rocks!" I shouted to the sky, cracking up soon after as I watched the Pokémon playing Tag. Blue merely sighed and sipped his lemonade.

"Can you even try and calm down, just a little?" I pouted.

"Come on, don't be such a party pooper. Parties are places for fun, and I'm having fun! You should lighten up and have fun as well." I held up my own glass and he frowned before clinking his against mine. I downed it all at once and poured myself more, and he sighed.

"You're going to make yourself sick doing that, you know."

"Oh, give it a rest, mother hen." I giggled, and he rolled his eyes. We were seated on deck chairs in the back garden of the Day Care, watching the Pokémon playing various different games. They'd already played hide-and-seek (which Oddish won, Geodude coming a close second), they'd played about seven different games of Tag in which the rules changed every few minutes to accommodate a certain Pokémon's wishes and they even played Blind Man's Bluff, but that didn't really work seeing as they kept cheating. Meanwhile Blue had taken it upon himself to be my nursemaid, warning me about various sicknesses I could get from being out in the cold, drinking too much fizzy stuff or from staying awake too long but it all fell upon deaf ears.

Elizabeth and Claude were working hard to finish making dinner as it was getting dark, and the Pokémon were getting restless. I was about to fall asleep when they brought out the food, to the delighted cheers of people and Pokémon alike. The Pokémon were determined to finish their game of Tag, and refused to eat until they had done just that. We couldn't eat without them and began to get impatient, until Fearow (who had gotten his talons on the lemonade and was on a bit of a sugar rush) suddenly flew up from his chair and began flying circles around the Pokémon, cawing loudly. I ducked as he flew over my head, my heart racing. Imagine it; a large brown bird with a beak that could easily poke out an eye-or impale you to a fence-flying around and playing Tag. My common sense told me to run inside and lock the doors and board up the windows, but I was having too much fun. Suddenly Elizabeth clapped her hands, and everyone froze in place.

"Alright everyone, dinner's ready!" There were cheers all around as we rushed to the table. Fearow had the honour of sitting at the head, and he managed to calm himself down and craned his neck to smooth ruffled feathers. Blue and I sat across from Elizabeth and Claude beside her, and the rest of the Pokémon gathered around at the other end of the long table.

"Alright everyone, dig in!" Elizabeth cried, and we all cheered before grabbing food and piling up our plates. It was amazing how much food Elizabeth had managed to cook, but it was guaranteed there would be no leftovers. For most dishes it was first in first served, and very shortly every single plate was empty and every single belly was comfortably full. We all lazed around the garden for about an hour once dinner had been eaten, and my high of earlier had worn off to be replaced by extreme tiredness. Blue glanced over at me as my head lolled onto his shoulder, and I yawned for the fourth time in as many minutes and said quietly, "Do you want to go to bed now?"

"No, I'm fine." He shook his head.

"You've been yawning almost non-stop for the last five minutes." I frowned.

"No I haven't." I yawned again and he raised an eyebrow, and I sighed in defeat.

"You win this round." I hauled myself from my chair, said goodnight to Elizabeth, Claude and all of the Pokémon (who had begun a game of Fluffy Bunny) and hobbled inside to my bedroom. I yawned as I went into the bathroom and remembered to take my clothes with me, and I fell into bed. I was asleep almost instantly.

* * *

"Fentis, wake up."

"Wha...? Mom...what...? Go away..." I heard a sigh.

"Fentis, I'm not your mom. It's time to wake up."

"What time...?"

"Half-twelve. Past lunch. Now hurry up." I rolled over and snuggled further into the bed.

"Just ten more minutes..." Another sigh.

"No, get up now!" The blanket was snatched from my hands and I growled before lashing out a hand, and I grinned when I heard the satisfying smack of skin on skin. I heard a muffled curse and a few backwards steps.

"For crying out loud, Fentis! I know you're not a morning person, but this is ridiculous!" I frowned, my eyes still closed.

"Mom...? You sound...weird..."

"That's because I'm not your mother, and don't make me say it again."

"...Red?"

"No."

"...Daisy?"

"Getting warmer."

"Green?" Sigh.

"Is that you, Green? What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?"

"I'm not Green, I'm Blue! Now, for the last time, get up!" I cracked an eye open and saw Blue standing above me, the blanket in his hand and a red mark on his cheek from where I'd whacked him. I blinked.

"Oh...hi." He shook his head.

"Honestly, sometimes I wonder about you." I grinned and stretched, my feet in the air and my hands smacking the headboard. I yawned and turned back to him.

"What time is it?"

"Half past twelve, for the second time." I sat bolt upright, blinking in the harsh sunlight streaming through the curtains Blue had opened while I slept.

"Seriously? You're joking, right?"

"No joke. So come on, or we'll never leave this place."

"Don't you like it here?" I asked as I stood up, stretching my back and wincing as the joints clicked. I must've slept weird.

"I'm not saying I don't like it, just that I'm ready for a change in scenery." I nodded and wandered over to my bag and dug around for my clothes.

"Speaking of scenery, where are we going next? We can't go to Saffron City anymore, remember? By the way, I'm going to be getting changed right here. Look away." I pulled my pyjama shirt over my head and glanced over my shoulder to see Blue sitting on the bed with his back to me. Even from this angle and distance I could see the blush on the back of his neck.

"I-I don't know. Maybe we should ask Elizabeth and Claude? They ought to know the good places to go."

"Sounds good. Is there any chance of breakfast? I'm starving." I heard him chuckle.

"I'll go and ask Elizabeth if she can make you something. Come out when you're decent." I listened to him open the door and close it behind him, and I quickly pulled on my jeans and jersey, buckled my boots, grabbed my bag and headed out of the room. Blue was leaning against the wall in the kitchen while Elizabeth prepared another edible masterpiece, and I was forbidden to peek until it was ready. Instead I sat at the table and tapped my foot in frustration, waiting rather impatiently for my food. Soon it came, in the form of a ham-and-cheese omelette. I tore into it ravenously and Elizabeth laughed while Blue sighed. I frowned at him and said with my mouth full, "Wasn't there something you wanted to ask her?"

"Oh, yeah. Elizabeth, seeing as we're going to be leaving later today, we were wondering if you knew where we should head to next?" She frowned and turned to him.

"You told me earlier that you were going to be heading to Saffron City. Has something changed?" He nodded.

"Yeah. We went don that way yesterday when we were on our walk, and the man in the gate told us the road was closed for maintenance. There's no way into the city, and I doubt it'll be done anytime soon." She nodded.

"That is quite a bother. It's a little strange though...Claude and I never heard anything about that. Anyway, in that case, I would suggest Vermillion City as your next destination. It's reasonably close, and you can get there easily by using the Underground Path. I take it you saw that yesterday as well?" We both nodded.

"Good. I've been to Vermillion once in my life, and that was when Claude and I were leaving for our honeymoon in Johto. The S.S. Anne took us there in two days. It's quite amazing, really, just how fast that boat can go. There was almost no warning when we left port."

"So, we should go there next?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry about that, I got a bit distracted there. But yes, you should definitely go there. Don't most Trainers challenge Gyms? Well, there's one there for you to take on."

"Really? That doesn't sound too bad of an idea, then." I said, and Blue nodded in agreement. Elizabeth smiled.

"Well, I guess that's all settled then, isn't it? That wasn't so hard." We laughed and kept eating, and when I finished I leant back against my chair and sighed.

"Ah, that was amazing. Thanks Elizabeth!"

"No trouble at all, my dear. So, when are you two heading off?" I glanced at Blue, and he sighed.

"I think we should go as soon as possible. I'd like to make it to Vermillion by tonight." Elizabeth nodded.

"Sounds reasonable. If you just wait in here, I'll go and get you some things you might need." We watched in confusion as she wandered out of the room, humming to herself. I blinked.

"Did she say she was going to be giving us stuff?"

"I think so, unless I heard her wrong."

"If that's the case, then we both did." We sat in silence for a few minutes before Blue turned to me.

"Hey, where are our Pokémon?" I shrugged. I had no idea.

"Probably still sleeping. They did do a lot of running around last night." As soon as I finished speaking the back door of the house opened, and we heard the pitter-patter of many feet running. Blue stood up as the kitchen door burst open and our Pokémon leapt through, followed closely by the Day Care's Pokémon. They all jumped at us and I caught Pikachu and Oddish in my arms and hugged them tightly while Blue struggled with Eevee, Sandshrew and Rattata while Fearow flew excitedly around his head, his huge wings almost stretching from one wall to the other. I laughed at him before I felt something crawl up my leg, and when I looked I saw Meowth clinging onto me and purring his head off. I put my other Pokémon on my shoulders and plucked him from my clothes, stroking his cream-coloured fur as he purred loudly. Claude came in shortly afterwards and grinned at us.

"Good, I was wondering where they'd gotten to. I turned around for a second and when I looked again they were all gone. Shame on you for running away like that." He scolded them, and they hung their heads in shame.

"Oh, hello dear. What are you doing in here? I thought you were outside, feeding the Pokémon." Elizabeth said as she re-emerged from wherever she'd gone, a bundle of stuff in her arms as she stared in confusion at her husband. He gestured to all of the Pokémon on the floor around us, and she sighed.

"They never could stay still, could they? Oh well. Here we are, kids. I think you'll find these incredibly useful on your journeys." She dumped the items on us and I scrambled to keep hold of them without squishing Meowth, who didn't really seem to care as he sank his teeth into the material and held onto it tightly. Closer inspection revealed that it was a sleeping bag, and Blue had a tent as well. I frowned.

"Don't I get a tent as well?" I complained good-naturedly, and the couple chuckled.

"That won't be necessary, will it dear? If you're travelling together, you'll only need one tent between the two of you. There's more than enough room, and taking another one would simply take up space in your bags."

Blue and I exchanged a glance. Were we even travelling together? I know we'd agreed to travel apart to gain independence, but it can't hurt to have a friend along as well, can it? I nodded to him and he grinned, seeming to understand what I meant.

"Oh, of course. Thank you both, really. You've done a lot for us, and I kinda feel like we've done hardly anything for you in return." Claude shook his head.

"Oh, not at all! Don't forget, you saved Meowth and Growlithe from the river. There's no need to thank us, just have fun, that's all we can ask. Pokémon journeys are lots of fun, when you're doing them right." He winked at us and we smiled, putting the sleeping bags and tent in our bags and heading out the front door.

We looked down the path and heard a strange sound behind us. It sounded like someone was getting strangled, but it turned out to be Elizabeth crying. She wrapped her arms around us in a tight hug, nearly heaving us off our feet as she cried, "Now, you two be careful, okay? Don't do anything rash, and take it easy with that ankle, Fentis. Just...stay safe, alright? I'd hate to hear if anything bad happened to you."

"We'll be fine, no need to worry." I choked out, barely able to breathe due to the chokehold she'd gotten me into. Blue just nodded, his face turning as blue as his name when she finally released us, coughing and wheezing. Claude just patted each of us on the shoulder and gave us a look that said, 'don't do anything stupid, or I will hurt you'. We nodded at him and turned to walk away, waving as we headed off down the track towards the Underground Path. When the Day Care was out of sight I lowered my arm and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Phew! I thought Elizabeth wasn't going to let us leave for a moment there." Blue nodded.

"No kidding. Still, it wouldn't have been so bad staying there. I mean, they're nice people, and the Pokémon were very friendly. I think it's an interesting job they're doing, and I'd like to see more Pokémon Day Cares around Kanto."

"Yeah, that would be nice, but we wouldn't want to put them out of business, would we?" We chattered absently as we headed towards the building, and Blue opened the door and stepped inside before me. It was quite a small room, with a potted plant in every corner and an obnoxious yellow floor that made me feel a little queasy.

The main feature of the room was the wide staircase leading down into the ground, and we descended it cautiously. The Underground Path was surprisingly bright, seeing as it was underground and everything. There were little electric lights in the walls every few metres or so, and I couldn't see the end of the tunnel as we began walking down it. Something else I noticed was the floor changing colours. First it was a rather disgusting browny-yellow, then blue, red and more disgusting brown. Seriously, who in their right mind would think that brown was an appealing colour? I shook my head as we ascended the stairs at the end and emerged into a similar-looking room to the one we'd entered through. We opened the door and stepped outside, blinking in the bright sunlight. It'd taken us all of twenty minutes to walk through the tunnel, and our eyes had adjusted to the artificial lighting down there.

I held my arm up over my eyes to shield them from the sun, and it took a few minutes for us to get used to the light once again. I could see the skyline of Saffron City behind us, and it looked so temptingly close I wanted to scream. There was another entrance gate just up the path, but we suspected that one wouldn't let us through either so we focused on finding the way to Vermillion City. Blue pulled out his trusty map again and squinted at it while I looked around, and I paused and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What is it?" He asked, not looking up from the map.

"You're looking for the city? I found it for you." He frowned at me and followed my gaze, and his brown eyes widened.

"...Oh." Was all he said, and I rolled my eyes. Poking out over the top of the trees I could see the top of a boat, a big boat at that. Blue and I grinned at each other before running towards it, taking shortcuts through the grass to reach the city. We almost ran over a young couple on a picnic, and we apologised before continuing on our way.

Vermillion City was quite different to Cerulean and Pewter, mainly due to the people bustling around with a sense of purpose, so they knew where they were going and not just wandering randomly like Blue and I were. We wandered through the city, our eyes wide as we stared around the place. We must've looked like we were lost or something, because someone came up to us and asked if we were alright. She pointed us towards the Pokémon Centre before continuing on her way, and we followed her directions until we were outside the familiar-looking building. Nurse Joy was smiling as usual as we walked up to the counter and booked a room for tonight (getting in early, before they were all gone or something), and we went back outside and toured the city.

The harbour was easy to find, and we stood on the dock watching the sailors unloading and loading ships. It must be boring, doing that all day. The S.S. Anne was definitely the boat I'd seen from the Underground Path, as it towered above the water like a colossal...boat. After we stared at it awhile one of the sailors began talking to us, and we learnt that it would be casting off tomorrow for Johto. It was a shame really. I wanted to go on it, but I'd promised my mother I wouldn't leave the region. I was thinking about going anyway, but she'd probably freak out if she couldn't find me and then I'd be in a while lot of unnecessary trouble. After about an hour of aimless wandering we found ourselves outside a building with a huge Poké Ball hanging from the ceiling, and I glanced at the sign curiously.

"'Pokémon Fan Club, where Trainers gather to discuss and compare their beautiful Pokémon'." I read, and then I turned to Blue. He was looking mildly interested so I pushed the door open and went inside, stopping almost instantly. There were people everywhere, just chatting, playing with Pokémon or just lounging around. We picked our way carefully through the throng and jumped when someone suddenly shouted at us.

"Hey you, kids! What do you think you're doing in here?" We turned to see a huge man wearing a shirt with a Clefairy on it striding over to us, a frown on his face.

"Uh...we were curious...?" Blue said lamely, and the man narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Oh? Well, you can't come in here without a Pokémon. It's the rules." I frowned.

"Well, if it's the rules..." I opened Pikachu and Oddish's Poké Balls and they appeared on the ground at my feet, glaring up at the man as though they'd sensed he was trouble. Blue did the same, releasing all of his Pokémon apart from Fearow. I felt a little sad at that. Just because he was bigger than the others and slightly more hyper, that doesn't make him dangerous. The man swallowed nervously and stepped back, waving his hands around.

"Uh...sorry, kids. Feel free to stay as long as you like." He said, dipping his head before running back to wherever he'd come from in the first place. I sighed and picked up my Pokémon, putting them on my shoulders as we kept walking. Blue returned Sandshrew and Rattata and held Eevee in his arms, following me across the room. I had no idea where I was going; I just wanted to get away from the Clefairy-man. I froze when someone else shouted at us, and I rolled my eyes. Why do people always have to shout?

"Hey, kids with the Pikachu and Eevee! Come over here, would you?" We looked around for who'd spoken, and we saw an old man sitting on a sofa beside a young woman adn facing a coffee table, with two more sofas on either side making it quite the place for conversations. I wandered over cautiously, and the man smiled up at me through his moustache.

"Ah, thanks for coming. Sit, please, don't be nervous." We sat on one of the sofas, our Pokémon hopping onto the table and looking around curiously. I never took my eyes off the man.

"I chair the Pokémon Fan Club. I've raised over one hundred Pokémon in my time, and I'm extremely fussy when it comes to all things Pokémon! Did you come to hear about my Pokémon?" Blue and I frowned. What the heck was this guy on about? I opened my mouth to refuse when I saw the woman sitting beside him nodding desperately, and I rolled my eyes before saying, "Sure, I guess." He beamed from ear to ear.

"Good! Now, listen up! My favourite...Rapidash...it's...cute...lovely...smart...plus...amazing...  
you think so? Oh yes, it's...kindly...stunning...love it! Hug it when...sleeping...warm and cuddly...spectacular...ravishing...oh, I kinda zoned out there! Sorry about that! Thanks for hearing me out, anyway! Here, take this! I've got no use for it." He thrust a piece of paper in my direction and I caught it as it fluttered to the ground, and I glanced at the words on it.

"A bike voucher?" I asked sceptically. Blue's eyes widened and he grabbed it off me to see for himself. The chairman nodded.

"Oh, yes! I've no need for one, as I fly everywhere on my Fearow! Thanks for visiting!" And with that, he ignored us, returning to whatever conversation he'd been having before we arrived. Blue and I exchanged a confused glance adn the woman beside him smiled sympathetically, whispering, "Don't worry, the chairman's often like that. He does enjoy talking about his Pokémon, but he sometimes gets a little caught up in his memories. Sorry about that."

"No problem." I said, and all but dragged Blue out the door. I took a deep breath when we emerged back outside, and I could smell the sea salt in the air. I stood for a moment before saying, "That was one of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me."

"Same here. That guy sure does love his Pokémon doesn't he?"

"Mhmm. Come on, let's get going. This place gives me the heebydabajeebies."

"Gives you the _what?" _He laughed, chasing after me. I sighed.

"It creeps me out, okay?"

"Yeah, I got that."

"Shut up." We walked through the city absently, Blue commenting on everything he saw while I ignored him. I could see everything he saw; I didn't need a running commentary. I stopped when I saw a sign outside a house and I paused, remembering what had awaited us the last time I went into a place with a sign.

"'Fishing Guru'?" Blue said, one eyebrow raised as he examined the sign.

"Yes, thank you for pointing that out, Mr. Obvious."

"You're most welcome, Little Miss Temper. Now, shall we go in?" He didn't even wait for my answer as he opened the door. I frowned at his back.

"What do you mean, temper? I don't have a temper!"

"Riiight, of course not." He said. I swear, I could smell the sarcasm rolling off of him in waves.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I complained as I followed him inside, and I was hit by a wall of fish-smell. I gagged and blocked my nose as Blue dragged me inside, and I looked around. It seemed like an ordinary house with ordinary things in it, and there was a man sitting at a table. He was wearing a red vest and a hat with hooks in it, and yellow rubber boots. He turned around as we walked inside, and his face broke into a grin.

"Hey, kids! Are you here for the wonderful fishing guru?" I glared at Blue and he said, "Sure, I suppose we are."

"Awesome! Well, I am him! Tell me now, children; have either of you fished before?" We both shook our heads, and his mouth fell open in mock horror.

"Oh my! How is this possible? You two have been severely wronged, and it is now time to rectify those wrongs! Come with me!" He rushed over to us, faster that I would've believed he could move and grabbed our arms, yanking us out the door and down the street to the harbour. As we were dragged along roughly I saw people smiling at us and continue walking. How can they leave us like this? How can they not be doing anything? I managed to catch Blue's eye and he gave me an apologetic look, but I just glared at him again and trod on his foot. On purpose. Soon we were back at the harbour, and the guru dug around in his pockets and pulled out two small black tubes.

"Here you are, a present from me to you! Be careful with them, as they're quite expensive!" I shot him a look.

"Yet you're giving them to us for free?" He shrugged.

"These are some of my older ones. It's the new, fancy ones that cost the mega-bucks! Come on, it's time to start fishing!"

We watched as he took out another tube, his one being green and pressed a button on the side. Almost instantly the thing extended until it was about six feet long, and the end was almost in my face. He apologised sheepishly before showing us how to thread the line through it, and then he tied the hook on and clamped a Poké Ball over it. I glanced down at my own tube and pressed the button I found, and Blue leapt out of the way as it grew. If he'd stayed still it probably would've taken his eye out. He glared at me before extending his own, and under the watchful eye of the fisherman we threaded them up and attached the hooks, then took an empty Poké Ball from our belts and clipped it on. The guru clapped his hands in glee when we were done.

"Well done, both of you! Now the fun begins!"

"Fun?" I repeated, staring at the fishing rod in a disbelieving way. He nodded emphatically.

"Of course! Now, come with me." He led us off the dock and we wandered along the coastline, eventually reaching a sheltered spot abundant in rocks and sand. There were a few fishermen already there, and they waved to the guru as we approached. As soon as they were close enough they began yelling to each other, and Blue and I exchanged a glance.

"How're they biting today, Mikey?" The guru shouted.

"Not too good. Only caught three Magikarp all day." Mikey replied, and the guru frowned.

"You think there might be something down there scaring them away?" I stiffened.

"Possibly. You never know, especially when you can't see anything." That did little to ease my tension as the guru came back over to us, frowning.

"This may not be a good spot for you beginners. Come on, follow me. We'll go somewhere else to start with." He began to walk off but was stopped by one of the other fishermen.

"Hey, man. Whose are those kids?" I frowned at him and Blue sighed.

"I dunno, I just found them in town. They said they've never been fishing before, so I decided to take them out." The men's jaws dropped.

"Seriously? I don't know how I could live without fishing!" One cried. They all nodded, and one of them beckoned us over.

"Where're you kids from, then? Somewhere inland?"

"Pallet Town, actually." Blue replied.

"Quite a long way from home then, aren't you? What're you going, all the way out here?"

"We're on our Pokémon journey, if you must know." I hissed, frowning at the fishermen. The one called Mikey raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I don't see any Pokémon." I opened my mouth to object but the fishing guru came over and placed a hand each on mine and Blue's shoulders. I soon discovered that the fishy smell in his house earlier had come from the man himself, and I wrinkled my nose in distaste.

"Alright, calm down the lot of you. All we want to do is fish. That's what we're here to do, and that's what we're going to do. Understood?" Blue and I nodded hesitantly, and the man grinned.

"Good. Now, come on over here." He led us to the other side of the rocks, away from Mikey and his friends. We watched as he cast his line, and then did it ourselves. It wasn't as easy as it looked, and we got it caught in our clothes more than once. Eventually we got the knack of it and sat on the rocks, watching the Poké Balls bob about on the surface of the water.

"Is this supposed to be fun?" I complained. The fishing guru sighed.

"Yes, it is. Just be patient." I glared at him.

"That's what you said the last time."

"Well, the concept still applies." Blue groaned. Even _he_ was losing it.

"And the time before that, and the time before that, and the time before that, and the time before that, and the-"

"Alright, I get the point. It's not like I can make the fish come sooner."

"Well, you should." I retorted, pouting childishly. Blue rolled his eyes. We decided to let our Pokémon out to try and entertain ourselves, and I'm glad to say it worked. First we introduced the fishing guru, and our Pokémon all said hello (well, I'm assuming that's what they said) before turning to the ocean, their eyes wide. Fearow began picking them up one at a time and taking them for a flight over the water, almost dropping them several times but managing to catch them again. Oddish slipped on a smooth rock and fell into the water but was saved by Sandshrew, who surprised everyone by leaping into the water and kicking out strongly to reach her. Wasn't he supposed to hate the water? He seemed embarrassed when he towed Oddish back to shore and refused to answer our questions, and it only got worse when Oddish rubbed her cheek against his in thanks. I laughed as he blushed and curled into a ball.

"Looks like someone's got a crush." Oddish stared up at me, confused.

"Oddish? Odd?"

"Oh, it means he likes you." She turned to Sandshrew, who had tried to roll away without us noticing but had accidentally run over Rattata's tail. The little rat began screeching at him and tried to scratch him, but Oddish stormed over with a storm cloud over her head. Not literally, but it wasn't hard to imagine one there. She shouted something at Rattata and he backed away, tail between his legs as she went over to Sandshrew, talking to him sweetly. He refused to respond and she frowned, then swung her leg and kicked him as hard as she could. He yelped and uncurled himself, staring at her in surprise before trying to run, but she stomped on his tail and pinned him to the ground. Blue turned to me as she began talking quietly, Sandshrew nodding every now and then.

"Wow. She is scary." I nodded sheepishly.

"She gets what she wants, that's for sure." We continued to watch as Sandshrew began talking rapidly, too fast for either of us to catch even if we could understand it. Oddish's eyes widened and she leapt at him, nuzzling his face ferociously. I blinked.

"Well, that was an interesting turn of events." Blue nodded.

"That's one way of putting it. Well...what do we do?"

"What do you mean, what do we do? Why should we do anything?" He rolled his eyes.

"Well, they're different species of Pokémon! We don't even know if they're compatible for breeding or anything." I raised an eyebrow.

"I don't care about that, I say we should just let nature take its course. I don't care what they do as long as they're happy, and as long as Oddish won't hesitate to kick his butt in battles." Blue frowned at me.

"Uh, I think Sandshrew will be the one kicking butt."

"Oh? And you base that hypothesis on what? Certainly not past experience."

"And what do you base _your _hypothesis on?"

"We've battled three times, correct?"

"Yeah..."

"And I've won every time, despite the fact you have twice as many Pokémon as me."

"I wasn't using my full power."

"Of course you weren't."

"Was that sarcastic?"

"No, of course not."

"You're lying."

"Well, aren't you a genius?" He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the fishing guru.

"Hey, girl! Cut the chit-chat and look at your line!" I turned to my fishing rod, and was surprised to see it almost bent in half. I was amazed it hadn't broken yet. I grabbed it with both hands and heaved as hard as I could, but yelped when my foot slipped on the rocks and I fell forwards, Blue catching me before I hit the water. We gave one almighty heave on the rod, and the Pokémon on the other end of the line suddenly shot out of the ocean and flew through the air, falling straight towards me. My eyes widened and I threw the pole to the side, bracing myself as the Pokémon sped towards me. It rammed straight into my belly and knocked me backwards, and I fell back on the rocks and whacked my head rather hard. I lay there for a moment, feeling nauseous and dizzy, and the Pokémon on top of me suddenly began flailing about wildly. I covered my face with my hands as it flopped about, knocking the wind out of my lungs too often for my liking. I was feeling like I was about to be sick when it fell off me, and I took a deep breath and massaged my aching, soaking chest. Blue was by my side in an instant, helping me back to my feet as he examined me carefully.

"Are you alright? You're looking a little green." I laughed weakly.

"I'm absolutely fine, Blue. Quit being such a worrywart. What the hell was that thing?" The guru looked up from where he crouched beside it, his face looking incredibly grim.

"It's called a Seel. Come over here, both of you." We exchanged a glance and crept over to him, and my eyes widened at the sight before me. The Pokémon-Seel-was a beautiful white seal, its damp hide seeming to shine in the sunlight. It had a tiny little horn on its head and the cutest face ever, and my heart almost melted. But that's not all. Seel was properly tangled in a thick net, and it struggled to free itself, but to no avail.

"I didn't do that, did I?" I asked the guru quietly, and he shook his head.

"No, you didn't. I never use nets, because things like this can happen. Can you hold her still for me while I cut her free?" I nodded and crouched beside Seel, reaching out to touch her gently. She watched the progress of my hand intently, and when my fingers brushed her skin she jerked her head back, the small horn stabbing into my hand. I cried out in shock and pain before scuttling back, clutching my bleeding hand and trembling. Blue grabbed my shoulder and steadied me, inspecting my hand before frowning at Seel.

"Come on, Fentis. We should go and get Nurse Joy to see to your hand." I shook my head.

"No, I'm fine." I broke away from him and crawled back over to Seel and the guru, who watched me curiously as I gently held Seel in place, the blood from my hand seeping onto her fur and trickling down her side. She glanced up at me with wide eyes, but freaked out when the guru pulled a knife out of his pocket. I had to strain to hold her down, and Pikachu and Oddish came over to help me by explaining to her what was happening. She didn't seem to believe them, as she continued to writhe and thrash around. I got several flippers to the face but didn't let go, and soon the guru put the knife away.

"All done. You can let her go now."

I did so gladly, leaving a bloody handprint on her hide as I pulled away. Seel began barking loudly, frowning at me as she flopped back towards the ocean. I had no idea what she was saying, but it can't have been very flattering as Oddish began shouting in retaliation. Seel stopped moving and glanced back at me, her eyes suspicious as she barked.

"Seel?" Pikachu nodded.

"Pika! Pikachu!" He grabbed my bleeding hand gently and held it out towards Seel, and I looked on curiously. I didn't think she'd realised she'd hurt me. My suspicions were confirmed when her eyes widened, and she glanced between angry Oddish, Pikachu and me. She didn't say anything, until Blue's Sandshrew pointed towards the remains of the net lying amongst the rocks.

"Shrew. Sandshrew, Sand." The Pokémon's eyes grew even wider, and she stared at my face again. I blinked back at her, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Seel! Seel, Seel, Seel!" She cried, flopping back towards me as fast as she could-which wasn't very fast, but I got the picture. I sat where I was, and yelped as she hurled herself at me, flattening me once again and burying her head in my chest. All I could do was lie as still as possible and keep an eye on the swinging horn, still tipped with a fine red coating of my blood. I glanced behind me and saw both the guru and Blue looking shocked, but neither made a move to help me. Some help they were. I jumped when I felt something on my hand, and I sat up slowly. Seel was sitting on my lap, licking the blood from my injured hand softly with her big, floppy pink tongue. Pikachu and Oddish exchanged a glance but didn't move, seeing I was in no immediate danger.

Slowly I raised my other hand and rested it on Seel's back, and she stiffened as I began to stroke her. She soon relaxed and went back to her licking, and soon the long cut was visible. The Pokémon in my lap turned her head towards me, staring up at me sadly as she nuzzled my hand gently, being careful to avoid the wound. I smiled and kept stroking her, and she soon curled up and went to sleep. So did my legs, actually. She's heavier than she looks. When she was fast asleep with her tongue poking out in a completely adorable manner, I turned to Blue and the fishing guru, who still hadn't moved.

"Now what?" I asked quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping Seel. They both jumped, like they'd been brought out of a trance. The guru scratched his head before saying, "I think it's time we headed out of here. It's getting late, and we wouldn't want to be caught out here in the dark. Come on, kids, let's go and pack up." He and Blue got to their feet and collected the rods, and I frowned. Not quite the answer I was hoping for. After looking back down at Seel's sleeping face I made my decision, and picked her up in my arms and staggered off towards the water. I felt her stir, and she looked around sleepily.

"Seel?"

"Relax, Seel. There's no need to worry." I said, placing her in the ocean. She sank beneath the surface of the waves but poked her head back up instantly, staring at me in confusion. I smiled encouragingly.

"Go on, Seel. Swim away. That's what you want, isn't it? To be free?" She blinked, as though not understanding my words. I beckoned Oddish and Pikachu over, and they explained to Seel what I was doing. To my surprise she shook her head emphatically, trying to scramble back up the rock and out of the water.

"Seel...what are you doing?" I asked. She barked something breathlessly and doubled her efforts, her flippers slapping the stone but getting no grip on its smooth surface. Pikachu and Oddish turned to me, worried looks on their faces.

"Pikachu, Pika."

"Odd." I glanced from one to the other, and then turned back to Seel. I still didn't know what was going on, but if she didn't want to go in the water then I wouldn't leave her there. I leant out over the water and picked her up under her flippers, and hauled her roughly out of the sea and back to the shore. She wrapped her flippers around my arm and nuzzled my hand, not looking like she was going to let go anytime soon.

"Fentis? What's going on?" Blue asked, coming up behind me. I shook my head helplessly.

"I don't know! I put Seel back in the water but she tried to get out, so I took her back out and now she won't let go of me." Blue tilted his head to one side, grinning.

"I think she likes you. Quite a lot, too." I raised an eyebrow.

"How can you tell?"

"Look at what she's doing." I glanced down, and my eyes widened. Seel was nudging one of the empty Poké Balls on my belt, trying to grab it in her mouth and pull it off the clip. I pushed her away gently and did it myself, then held it out to her. She looked up at me and barked.

"Seel! Seel, Seel Seel!" I frowned.

"I don't understand, Seel." Blue smiled and sat down beside me.

"I think she wants you to be her Trainer. Don't you, girl?" He said, holding his hand out to her. She stared up at him before allowing him to stroke her, nudging my hand insistently.

"Woah! Back up a bit, would you? What makes you think she'd want to come along with me?" He shot me an exasperated look.

"Are you always this slow? It's because she hurt you-quite badly, too-and you still helped her. I don't think she's ever known people to be kind, I mean, you saw how she looked in that net. I think she wants to come with you because you're the first nice human she's ever met, and she wants to return your kindness in her own way." Seel nodded emphatically, and I turned to Blue with a quizzical look on my face.

"And how do you know all that, eh? Are you a Poké-whisperer or something?" He frowned.

"Of course not. It's just obvious, judging by her actions right now. I mean, look at her!"

I did. She must've been getting fed up with all the hesitation, so she was trying to press the button on the ball herself. I laughed. She was too adorable. I glanced at Pikachu and Oddish.

"What do you guys say? Would you like to have Seel some along with us?" Pikachu nodded happily while Oddish muttered something under her breath, but then she nodded as well. I grinned down at Seel.

"Alright, looks like you're coming with me."

"Seel!" She barked, a delighted look on her face as she vanished inside the ball. I stared at it for a moment before grinning and attaching it to my belt, and I gasped as a shockwave of pain went up my arm from my injured hand. I got to my feet, returned both Pikachu and Oddish to their Poké Balls and wandered over to the guru, who had just finished packing everything up. Blue joined us and we headed back to Vermillion City, and we travelled in silence until I turned to the guru.

"What if there's more Pokémon trapped in nets? Shouldn't we help them?" He nodded.

"Yes, but you can leave that to me. I expect that you kids have somewhere else you should be, and other things you could be doing." I frowned but nodded, poking the cut softly and wincing at the pain. Blue rolled his eyes.

"You are such a kid."

"And how'd you figure that out, hmm?" I retorted, shooting him a look.

"You just proved my point."

"I did nothing of the sort."

"There you go again." We kept up our bickering until we said goodbye to the fishing guru and headed to the Pokémon Centre, where I was taken into a small room with a Chansey who cleaned, dried and bandaged my hand. I thanked her before going to the room Blue and I were sharing, and collapsed on my bed. It'd been quite a long day. I was almost asleep when Blue came out of the shower, and I managed to drag myself into the bathroom and have a quick one before curling up in bed.

"You know you need to get up early tomorrow."

"Mhmm." I muttered, rolling onto my side so my back was to him. He rolled his eyes and threw his sock at me. I didn't move.

"I'm serious, Fentis. We have to get up early to get on the S.S. Anne, remember?" I nodded, not opening my eyes. Blue gave up and got into his own bed, muttering, "Girls..." I threw his sock back at him, hitting him right in the face.

"Goodnight, Blue." He sighed, and then laughed.

"Goodnight Fentis. I'll be waking you up in the morning, nice and early."

"...Bastard."

* * *

**Well ain't that nice? I don't know how frequent the uploadings will be from here, as I'm busy writing other things. I tend to get random urges to write stuff, and with luck this will be one of them. Whatever ends up happening, I hope to see you all there! R&R please. I shall be very happy if you do :D**


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